Road to Awe
by frosty wonder ice
Summary: Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy have led very different lives; an attempt to meet in the middle may be hopeless, but Albus intends to try.
1. First of the First

Standard Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. =)

I originally intended for this to be a one-shot; I'm trying to think of a good way of expanding it.

-o-o-

"Ugh!"

"Is this your first time?"

"No, it's, arghh, it's not, but I still, ungh–" Albus Potter huffed to catch his breath, feeling sweat run down his neck and back. "You?"

"Oh, it's not mine either."

"How, unh, how many…?"

"Hmm… eleven, if I count what happened when I was four."

Albus froze. "_Eleven_? You were _four_ the first time?"

"Well, that was technically the first time but they didn't get very far with me before they were caught…"

"Wow. This is only my second time… Don't your parents protect you?"

A long pause. Then, "It won't matter soon. Hogwarts is said to have excellent barriers."

Dropping the magical bind he had been tugging against, Albus turned to fully face the other boy also trapped in the magic-encased cell. It was too dark to really see each other but he could tell the other was kneeling calmly near the wall instead of fighting for freedom like him. Albus wondered if he would be as apathetic if this was his eleventh time to be kidnapped instead of only his second. Could he even _be_ kidnapped eleven times? His father would never stand for such a thing!

"I'm going to Hogwarts this fall, too. My name is Albus, but everyone calls me Al. What's your name?" Albus waited for a moment but the other boy didn't respond. "Um, I asked–"

"We should probably go now."

"Huh? But we're still tied… to…" As he lifted his arms to show the restraints, Albus was shocked to discover that the binds had disappeared. "Wha… When…?"

"Oh, I de-magicked them," the boy said matter-of-factly and was already waiting by the cell door. "I got tired of waiting for someone to rescue me, so I've been reading through my father's library."

"De-magicked… Reading through your father's…" Albus blinked up at the other. "_Who_ are you?"

The other boy laughed quietly; he held out a hand to Albus. "We have to go before they return."

Albus squinted his eyes but he could barely see the other boy's face in the dark. Hesitantly, he took the offered hand, surprised by how warm it felt despite the chill of the cell. The other boy didn't actually help him to his feet, but as soon as he was standing he was tugged in the direction away from the stairs that led out of the dungeon.

"Hey," Albus said, pulling against the other boy's hand. "Shouldn't we go the other way?"

"No."

The firm, resolute tone of the boy's voice stopped any protest Albus had. Placing confidence in the other, he allowed himself to be led deeper into the dungeons and it didn't take long before they were completely incased in darkness, yet Albus was steered through the empty passages like the boy was following a lit path.

"Can you see in here?" Albus whispered, something about being in the dark making him feel the need to be quiet.

"Yes," the boy replied at the same volume he'd been speaking in the entire time.

Albus waited for the boy to explain how, but then sighed when he realized that the explanation wasn't going to come. For a moment, he thought he heard something behind them, but the other didn't pause in the slightest, so Albus walked a little faster so they were more side-by-side and squeezed the hand in his own. Unexpectedly, his hand was squeezed back and he felt a bit reassured.

It seemed like they walked for a while, always in a determined direction, but eventually Albus noticed a dim light ahead of them. It was hardly enough to be called "light" but his eyes were so accustomed to the dark that even the tiny change appeared bright. When they got closer enough, Albus realized that it was a small hole in the stone wall. Albus let go of the other boy's hand and pressed his face to the walnut-sized hole. He couldn't see much except dirt.

"This passageway goes under a hillside," the other boy stated.

"Have you been here before? Is that how you know where to go?"

"No." The boy placed something heavy sounding in the hole and then grabbed Albus's hand again, pulling them back a few meters.

"What was–" Albus started to ask, but was interrupted when red sparks erupted from the hole and the wall trembled twice before stones, grass, and dirt fell to the ground, creating a large enough opening for them to escape. Albus stared in wonder. "Whoa! How did you do _that_?"

His question ignored once more, Albus was led through the dust, carefully over the remnants of the wall, and into crisp night air. Albus blinked against the moonlight once they were fully outside and spun to look in what he thought was the direction they had come. Far up the hill he could see a castle-like mansion reaching toward the starry sky, looking ominous with only a few lights burning in the windows.

In a moment of childish petulance, he stuck his tongue out at the house and whoever was in it. "Jerks," he muttered.

"Fools," the other boy corrected.

Suddenly remembering that he had no idea who the other boy was or what he looked like, Albus whipped back around so that they faced one another. Only the warmth of the other's hand in his assured Albus that he was not staring wide-eyed at a ghost.

Hair so blonde it was almost white fell like silk over the soft, blue robe covering the boy's shoulders, and his skin looked as delicate and smooth as a porcelain doll. It was a stark contrast to Albus's own tousled black hair, sun-kissed and dirt-smudged face, and tattered play robes – in his defense, he had been "practicing" quidditch with James and Fred a short while before his abduction.

But what really got Albus were the boy's eyes: so light they looked pupil-less and white like the hair framing his face. They sent a thrill through Albus and he abruptly recalled the captor who had brought the other boy to the cell saying, "Nasty li'l shit with ya empty eyes. Like Death himself a lookin' at me."

"They won't find you again."

Albus practically jumped out of his skin at the boy's voice. His mind tried to wrap around the fact that the voice and face were the same person, and when it did he realized that the two fit perfectly together. Then he realized he hadn't actually heard what was said. "Huh?"

"I said that they won't find you again. Not tonight."

"Oh…" was all Albus could manage against those unwavering light eyes.

"You don't have to hold my hand anymore."

"Huh?" Albus blinked stupidly, and then the other boy looked away and the trance on him was lifted. "Oh!"

He jerked his hand back embarrassedly, stuffing it in his pocket. He hoped it was dark enough that the other wouldn't see his blush. They stood awkwardly for a moment – well, Albus certainly felt awkward, anyway. He thought he heard a sigh, but when he looked up, the other boy had started to walk further down the hillside. Albus got the distinct impression that he'd done something offensive.

"They're not creepy!" Albus blurted without thinking. The other boy paused but didn't look back at him. Albus chewed at his bottom lip, now more embarrassed than before. "Um, I don't think they're like Death's, you know? Your eyes, I mean. They're kinda, um, _different_, but they're not creepy. I… I like them."

The other boy turned around and he was smiling such an honest and wide smile it made a kaleidoscope of butterflies take off in Albus's stomach.

"What… What's your name?" Albus breathed, a strange and new emotion making his whole body shiver despite the summer air.

The other's smile softened a bit but it was still warm and friendly. "I'm–"

"Albus? Al, is that you?"

The harshly-whispered, familiar voice made Albus jump out of his skin a second time that night, the butterflies gone in an instant. He jerked toward the nearby ditch where a head lifted cautiously over the edge. As he squinted his eyes to see who it was, the person stood abruptly and rushed toward him. Albus's eyes widened as he recognized the gangly figure. "Uncle Ron!"

"Thank Merlin!"

Albus was enveloped in his uncle's strong arms and hugged so tightly he thought his ribs might crack. He was released just as abruptly as he was hugged and held at arm's length so he could be studied.

"It really is you!" Ron Weasley marveled. "Harry's up there kicking the doors down looking for you! And Ginny! Man, but we were all worried about you!"

Albus grinned at the mention of his parents. "I'm okay! I knew Dad would come for me!"

"Who took you?" Ron's expression changed from ecstatic shock to a severe glower. "Did you recognize any of them? What'd they do to you?"

"They didn't hurt me," Albus assured him. "It seemed like they were too busy fighting with each other to pay us any mind. They just tossed us in a dungeon."

Ron looked confused. "Us?"

"Yeah, me and…" Albus went to point at the other boy whose name he still did not know, but where the boy had stood before was now completely empty. Albus pushed away from his uncle and searched the area frantically. "Where did he go?"

"What? Al, you were the only person I saw out here…" Ron pat his head gently, concerned. "You sure you're okay?"

"No! He was here! Right over there!" Albus insisted. "He's the one that got us out!"

But as he searched, he began to realize that he and his uncle were the only two people standing on the hillside.

-o-o-o-o-

The white peacock cooed down at him from atop the overgrown hedge, its feathers shining in the moonlight, and Scorpius Malfoy smiled softly up at it. He maneuvered around the broken walkway, avoiding clumps of the hedge that grew outward and the weeds that rose between the stones brushed against the bottom of his robes. Untamed flowers spilled from the beds and Scorpius felt their velvety petals brush his hands as he passed.

The Malfoy garden wasn't quite what it used to be. His father told him how it had once been beautiful and bright, that it would one day be that way again, but Scorpius liked the wild flare it had now.

As he ascended the steps to the manor, the back French doors flew open and his father's silhouette stood against the dim light from inside. Draco Malfoy practically ran down to meet him, appearing flustered, worried, and nothing like the composed, cold man he was in public.

"Scorpius!"

Scorpius hummed lightly as he was hugged and cheerfully returned the embrace, breathing in his father's smell as he did. No matter how many people spit at him – on him – or glared or whispered behind their hands or refused to meet his eerie eyes, his father always accepted him with love. It only saddened him that Draco seemed to be silently begging his forgiveness for such a life at the same time.

"They shouldn't punish you," Draco always said, "for the mistakes your grandfather and I made."

Draco finally relented his hug and pulled back cup Scorpius's face in his hands, staring into the boy's eyes as so many wouldn't. "Where have you been? Your mother is beside herself with worry. Were you… Did someone threaten you? Hurt you?"

"I'm fine," Scorpius murmured, his smile falling when he saw his father's distressed face. "It's okay, Daddy. They can't hurt me anymore. I outgrew people like them a long time ago."

Instead of finding the words comforting, Draco felt his stomach turn. He again pulled Scorpius close. "You shouldn't have had to _outgrow_ them! You're too young for all of this! I should at least be allowed to protect _my son!_"

Scorpius didn't say anything else.

-o-o-o-o-

A knock on the door the next morning had Scorpius pausing on his way to the dining room. The Malfoy Manor rarely had visitors and none that entered through the front gate. He sat down at the base of the stairs, knowing better than to answer, and waited for someone else to come. There was another, more insistent knock and a moment later his father strode into the front parlor. Draco didn't notice Scorpius sitting quietly and was already transitioning into aloof mode.

With a flick of his hand, the front door opened before Draco, and Scorpius was surprised when the emotionless mask slipped for a split second.

"Potter," Draco greeted with a small nod, voice steady but Scorpius could see his eyes darkening. "You are not accompanied by Weasley or another Auror so I take that this, ah, _visit_ isn't on business."

"Actually, Malfoy, it is," Scorpius heard the other man respond. He sounded uncomfortable. "I thought it best if we discussed it, um, just the two of us."

He sounded _very_ uncomfortable.

"Oh?" Draco clearly enjoyed that he was making the other man stand awkwardly on the doorstep, which made Scorpius happy to see him so.

"Yeah…" An embarrassed pause. "Can I come in?"

Draco looked for a moment like he might say no, but then stepped to the side to allow the other man access. Scorpius watched curiously; usually if Aurors were coming to the Manor, expected or unexpected, he was whisked away to the jungle-gardens by his mother. He had yet to meet the "Potter" that always irritated his father so much – "Potter" who was also "The-Boy-Who-Lived," "The-Chosen-One," and "The-One-Who-Saved-Us-All" that Scorpius had read so much about in the books and newspapers. It was because of his reading that he immediately knew "Albus, but everyone calls me Al" with the daring, emerald green eyes he had met not eight hours previous was, in fact, "Albus Potter."

And when "Potter" caught sight of Scorpius sitting on the stairs out of the corner of his eye and turned to look, Scorpius could see that the eyes and hair always caught in the photos for The Prophet were just as lively and messy in person.

"Scorpius."

Draco's voice cut through his thoughts and he broke eye contact with "Potter."

_Ah, I was caught._

"Go to your mother," Draco ordered calmly.

"Yes, Father."

Scorpius obediently stood and continued on his way to the dining room, but once out of sight of the two adults, he cut through a small study and a sun room back around to the front parlor, hiding quietly behind the door. Normally, he had no reason to disobey his father, but the excitement he'd felt at the words of "Albus, but everyone calls me Al" still made him grin like a fool, and he couldn't help being a bit curious about "Potter."

He could only hear the murmur of voices and pulled his wand from a hidden pocket in the sleeve of his robe. Unlike other young magicals his age, Scorpius had had a wand for many years, attained for his protection from a less-than-honorable source. He was looking forward to receiving a new wand matched to him when he was to go to Diagon Alley with his mother in a week's time. The only drawback to a legitimate wand was that it came with the underage trace.

Scorpius pressed the tip of his gnarled, old wand against the door and closed his eyes, chanting a spell inside his head. Then, as if he were still standing in the front hall, he could clearly hear the adults arguing.

"–a joke?" "Potter" snapped. "The two I interrogated right after said that they grabbed Albus and your son, Scorpius."

"Did you ever stop to think that they were lying?" Draco replied evenly.

"They were under verisaterum," was the irritated counter. "And Albus himself confirmed that there was another boy with him – a boy that he described perfectly to your son, from what I saw – and don't you dare try to call my son a liar!"

"For what reason would they abduct both our sons?" Draco asked, not calling anyone a liar but not conceding to "Potter" either. "That seems to be a conflict of interest."

Potter gave a frustrated sigh. "Look, they weren't the smartest group–"

This Scorpius agreed to completely.

"–but they were well-funded. There could have been any number of plans and people behind this. We're still interrogating everyone, so I don't know."

But Draco and Scorpius knew. Anyone still sticking to the old ways and trying to get at "Harry Potter" would go after the Malfoys, too. After all, it was the Malfoys' faults that "Harry Potter" had defeated "The Dark Lord." Unfortunately, the other side hated the Malfoy family as well and were equally as cruel. Scorpius had been stuck in the middle his entire life.

"You should keep a better eye on Scorpius," "Potter" was saying. "He was clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time. They wouldn't have grabbed him otherwise."

Scorpius breathed in sharply. He didn't have to see his father to know that Draco was furious with this last statement.

"They wouldn't have?" Draco growled through clenched teeth. "What do you know about what happens to my son? You make the mistake of thinking that anyone who was against The Dark Lord is automatically a good person. _Several_ hated The Dark Lord but were still_ murderers and thieves_, _Potter_."

"Potter" stumbled over his words for a moment before harshly saying, "If Scorpius is in danger, then _you should protect him_."

_Oh no, no, no!_ Scorpius screamed in his mind, feeling his chest constrict. _Don't say that to him!_

"Get OUT!" Draco roared.

"Malfoy, you–"

"Get out of my home! _NOW!_"

Scorpius thought "Potter" might try to argue, but a second later he heard the front door slam with such force the walls shook. Then there was a loud crash as Draco threw something to the ground and shouted in anger. Scorpius sat frozen on the other side of the door and listened to all the banging and yelling, and even heard his mother rush in but Draco told her to leave, that he wanted to be alone.

When the front parlor finally quieted, Scorpius pushed the door open a crack and peered cautiously through. The parlor was a mess and it took him a moment to find his father. Draco sat at the base of the stairs where he'd been before "Potter" arrived not thirty minutes earlier. The sight of his father sitting there, head in hands and looking as though he wanted nothing more than to cry, had Scorpius through the door and pushing his way into his father's arms in a flash.

Draco startled in surprise. "Scorpius, you–"

"It's okay, Daddy," Scorpius whispered against his chest. "I'm okay."

Scorpius felt strong arms wrap around him and he hugged tighter, trying to pour every happy thought he had into his father.

Because how could a family of former Death Eaters protect _anyone_ when, by decree of the ministry, half of their magic each had been sealed?

-o-o-o-o-

_One Month Later_

Rose took the first available compartment without so much as a backward glance at Albus, fully expecting him to follow, and he did. He always did; there was never a reason to not follow.

"Did you read your books?" Rose asked.

"A little," he said, and it wasn't a lie. He'd read the covers, after all.

"Mother said it's best to get a head start," Rose admonished, and he felt more than saw her knowing frown. "Mother gave me her old books."

Albus sent her an odd look. "Why?"

Rose's frown became more tight-lipped and her shoulders tensed as though she were a ruffled bird. "_Because_ the new authors _clearly_ think we're _novices_. If you'd have read your books you would know that the material is watered down to a ridiculous _simplicity_."

Albus didn't point out that they _were_ novices and that simplicity was probably a good thing, or that a glance at his potions manual certainly did not seem "watered down" to him. In fact, he was relatively sure that it wasn't even in English. But maybe there was a chapter on translation – he didn't read his books, so he didn't know.

The first half of the train ride was more or less like any other trip Albus had been on with his family: Rose talked (a _lot_) and an hour into the trip his butt started to hurt. When it became unbearable to sit any longer, he waited for Rose to take a deep breath between sentences and quickly got to his feet, stretching his arms above his head.

"I'm going to walk," he stated plainly, easing over to the compartment door.

"Are you upset about James?" Rose asked.

"Huh? Oh– _that_."Albus rolled his eyes. James stopping by to tease him again about the sorting had caused a small wave of panic, but the _excitement _of going to Hogwarts had long since pushed his nerves to the back of his mind. Where they should stay. "No, I just want a look 'round the train. Are you coming?"

Rose sniffed delicately and pulled her book bag closer to her. "I still haven't finished _Hogwarts: A History_."

"Oh." Albus started out the door, but looked back around at her. "I thought you read that at the beginning of summer?"

"I meant I haven't yet finished reading it this time."

"Oh, I see." Albus stepped into the hallway and started to pull the door closed. "I'll be back in a bit, then."

A frown from Rose was all he received in response.

There were a few students in the hallway and an attendant passing through with a treat cart. Albus got a couple of licorice wands to eat as he wandered. He and Rose had boarded near the front of the train so he made his way toward the back. Not all of the cars were compartment style like the one he and Rose were riding. There was a long one that was open with seats and tables. Most of the students in this car were sixth and seventh years so Albus quickly passed through it. He heard James's voice from a compartment and ducked under its window quietly. When he made it to the last car the back door was charmed shut so all he could do was stare through it at the disappearing landscape. It was already getting dark.

As he stood there, his mind traveled back to a month before when he had been kidnapped – the event occupied his thoughts often since that night. They never did find the other boy, but Albus's father promised that he would find out about the boy when he interrogated the kidnappers. Albus, of course, was never told much beyond that. Something about Auror confidentiality.

But the boy was coming Hogwarts; that much Albus did know, and he was determined to find the other, no matter how long it took.

With this resolution in mind, he started on his way back to Rose. He had just entered a car when a rowdy group of Hufflepuff third years knocked into the same attendant he'd bought the wands from earlier.

"That's _it_!" she cried, pulling her wand out to round up all the fallen treats. "That's the _fourth_ time! All of you, out of the hallway!"

The third years quickly ducked into their compartments as Albus stood nervously to one side. The attendant turned to him expectantly.

"Away with you!"

"Uh, well, I'm actually-"

The compartment door behind Albus opened magically and he felt as though strong hands were shoving him inside. He stumbled backwards into the compartment and stared wide-eyed at the attendant. She rolled the cart in front of the compartment and gave him a stern look.

"Now then, _dear_, was there anything you wanted off the cart?"

"Uh…" Albus didn't know if she actually wanted a response. "Um, no thank you ma'am. I don't want anything."

With a sharp, "_Good_," the door slid shut, nearly taking Albus's nose as it did, and the attendant continued to push the cart down the hallway.

Albus stood in shock for a moment, unsure if it was wise to attempt heading back to Rose at this point and fairly certain that even if he tried the door wouldn't open. He froze when he heard the rustling of clothing from behind him.

Closing his eyes to hope that the attendant hadn't thrown him in with a group of angry seventh years, Albus slowly began to turn. When he was all the way around, he opened his eyes again.

And immediately froze up.

_Wha-wha-wha… I – so soon? This is… I'm not mentally prepared for this!_

There was only one other student in the compartment and he pushed himself up from where he'd been lying on the cushion with one hand and rubbed his eyes with the other. When he finally looked at Albus it was through sleep-clouded almost-white eyes. He stared at Albus blankly for a long while, as if waiting expectantly, but Albus had yet to unfreeze. Then he smiled a small, secretive smile and Albus felt the same swarm of butterflies from before start to flutter in his stomach again.

"Have we arrived?"

He spoke so quietly that Albus almost didn't hear him, but it was enough to grab Albus's full attention and he huffed out the breath he hadn't know he was holding. "Oh, uh, no… We're almost there, though… I think."

The other boy hummed and turned to look out the window at the dark sky. He was, Albus noticed, already wearing his school robes like Rose but there wasn't a single improper crease despite him having slept in them. Rose had spent most of the trip fussing about wrinkles. She wouldn't have dared to lie on the cushion.

"You won't sit, 'Albus, but everyone calls me Al?'"

Albus dropped onto the cushion across from him without a second thought.

"You remember me!" he breathed, grinning excitedly.

"Yes," the boy murmured, tilting his head slightly to one side. Like before, his hair slid like silk over his shoulder and now that there was light it looked _soft_.

Albus's fingers twitched.

"I, uh- Well, um, you see, I," Albus stammered, blushing. "I-I'm Albus Potter, and I… I've been so worried about you! You disappeared that night and my uncle Ron thought I was crazy or that I'd hit my head or something and I didn't know what to say or do but I told my dad everything and he said he'd take care of it but he hasn't told me anything because he has to keep things that go with work confidential which is stupid 'cause Uncle Ron is always telling us things he's not supposed to and I didn't know if Dad'd actually managed to find you and I was so worried 'cause you just _disappeared_, and how did you do that anyway? I mean, we were standing right there and Uncle Ron said he didn't even see you but he doesn't notice anything which is why Aunt Hermione is always yelling at him–"

Albus cut off abruptly when he realized he was rambling and that the other boy was staring with trembling lips as though trying to keep from laughing. He shifted uncomfortably on the seat, wiping his sweaty palms on his old, every day robe – _I wasn't prepared for this so soon!_ Finally, eyes on the floor of the compartment, he muttered, "What's your name?"

The other boy stood up suddenly, his action jerking Albus's eyes off the floor to him. He was smiling, practically beaming, and Albus couldn't help grinning dopily in response, nor could Albus break eye contact as he sat back down on the cushion directly next to the flustered Potter.

"My name is Scorpius."

"Scorpius…" Albus repeated a bit idiotically, feeling somewhat dazed by that stare.

"Mmhm," Scorpius hummed with a nod. "Scorpius Malfoy."

"Scorpius Malfoy," Albus repeated again, this time as a firm statement to indicate that he had the name and wouldn't forget it. There was a bell going off in the back of his mind telling him that he should recognize the name, but Albus was too preoccupied with trying to not laugh like a fool when Scorpius smiled brightly at him to pay it a considering thought. "And you're a first year like me… We could get sorted to the same House!"

"We could," Scorpius lightly agreed.

Albus wiggled in his seat eagerly. "It'll be so cool! We could hang out all the time! And there's so much I want to talk to you about! You already know a bunch, don't you? I bet you're smarter than even Rosie!"

Scorpius didn't know "Rosie" but was flattered all the same. The shy smile he gave in response made the butterflies in Albus tickle all the way to his toes.

"This… This is just so _cool_!" Albus exclaimed, nearly grabbing Scorpius's shoulders and shaking him in barely contained excitement – a month's worth of wondering about and idolizing the other boy overflowing now that they were together once more. "We'll first have to–"

The door to their compartment slid open abruptly.

"Albus Severus Potter!" Rose commanded from the hallway, "What are you thinking? I've been looking for you for almost an hour, we're about to arrive, and you're not even in your robes!"

_Oh_, Scorpius realized, watching the incensed young witch curiously, _By "Rosie" he meant "Rose Weasley."_

Her eyes darted to him at that moment and, due to her angry expression, Scorpius expected her to admonish him as well. Instead, her eyes widened as she recognized him in return and immediately, swiftly, she moved into the compartment, snatched Albus by the wrist, and tugged him toward the door.

"You need to get changed," she ordered Albus, but her eyes were trained suspiciously on Scorpius.

Albus allowed her to pull him to his feet but resisted being taken any further. His excitement appeared to block his perception of the mistrust Rose was exuding toward his new friend, or the fact that Scorpius's smile had faded quickly to a blank mask as he stared at Rose with equal intensity. "Rosie! This is the boy I told you about. The one that helped me escape! His name is Scorpius Malfoy."

"I know!" Rose snapped, and Albus furrowed his brow in confusion but she ignored it and continued to tug him away from Scorpius. "Let's go, Albus!" she urged. "You need to get changed. _Now!_"

"Just wait a moment, will you?" Albus said in exasperation, shaking his wrist free only to have her grab it again. Then, he said to Scorpius, "You should come, too, so we don't get separated when we get there."

"I still have a few things to take care of first," Scorpius replied quietly, not smiling. "You should go get changed."

Albus faltered at his new friend's sudden cold demeanor and gave a small, forced smile. "Oh, okay… I guess we can meet up later, once we get off. I'll look for you, okay?"

Scorpius only nodded and Albus let Rose drag him into the hall and toward their compartment far up the train. He gave one last confused glanced at Scorpius but the other boy was simply sitting with his hands in his lap, staring at them expressionlessly.

Once they were safely two cars away, Rose whirled on him, demanding shrilly, "Do you have any idea who that was?"

Albus looked at her like she'd asked him if he knew his own father. "_Yes_," he said in irritation. "I _told_ you. His name is Scorpius Malfoy."

"Yes, Albus! Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius _Malfoy!_"

The way Rose stressed the last name helped something click in Albus's brain. It was a name that he'd heard in passing between the adults when they recounted their school days and the war they'd survived, but no comment in particular really came to mind. Albus shook his head at Rose. "So?"

Rose heaved a huge sigh in frustration. "_So_ his parents and grandparents were members of _Voldemort's_," the name she whispered, "side! Dad and Uncle Harry have gone to the Malfoy home many times to check for dark objects and question them about their dealings with dark wizards. Dad even pointed them out on platform nine-and-three-quarters!"

Now that Rose mentioned it, Albus did recall his Uncle Ron, after having plenty of fire whiskey, ranting about the Malfoys and their role in aiding the dark lord named Voldemort. His Uncle Ron tended to be more liberal with information from those times. Harry Potter wasn't one to talk about the war, not even to his own children – not exactly bedtime story material – so Albus had very little to resent the Malfoy family for.

"_And_," Rose continued, "didn't you see? He has _Death's Eyes!_ They're so _creepy!_"

_"Nasty li'l shit with ya empty eyes. Like Death himself a lookin' at me."_

"You take that back!" Albus shouted, her words infuriating him and his arms flinched as he almost shoved her the way he would James or Hugo. "There's nothing wrong with his eyes!"

"It's what that is called, Albus – eyes so light like that. They're called 'Death's Eyes' because they look empty and sinister!"

"No they _don't!_" Albus all but screeched.

He intended to rave about it more, but other students that overheard their yelling match were opening their compartment doors to see who was fighting, so instead he gave one last angry shout and stomped toward the other end of the car, ignoring Rose at his heels. The two of them received curious looks as they marched back toward the front of the train with equal expressions of anger and not talking to one another.

When they reached their original compartment Rosie dropped onto her seat with a huff and Albus snatched up the robes she had already laid out neatly on his seat. Though he could feel Rose glaring at him, Albus kept the silence as he exchanged his worn robe for his new school one. He wasn't accustomed to fighting with Rose – it felt entirely unnatural actually – but he couldn't easily forgive her slander towards Scorpius, even if he had only met the boy twice and both times briefly. Even after he'd finished changing neither of them spoke, each refusing to be the one to crack. Fortunately for Albus, the last of the ride to the Hogsmeade station was short; he was always the first to cave in fights. He hated the tense atmosphere and fighting with family always made him feel guilty, even if he knew he was in the right.

As soon as the train stopped, Albus flew off his seat, grabbed his things, and darted out the door, pretending not to hear Rose call his name. He shuffled off the train with the other students and began searching for Scorpius in the crowd once he was on the platform. However, being only twelve created a definite height disadvantage, and the other students were excitedly bustling about, knocking him all over the place.

"Al! What are you doing? Don't you hear Hagrid calling for the first years?"

Albus felt a hand on his arm and turned to see his cousin, Louis Weasley. "Huh? Hagrid?"

Before Louis could respond, the booming voice of Hogwarts's groundskeeper and their fathers' good friend – practically family, he was – rolled over them, "First years! This way! First years, follow me!"

"Hear him now?" Louis asked with a playful flick at Albus's nose.

Albus distractedly pushed away the hand. "All the first years will be over there?"

Louis cocked an eyebrow at him, perplexed. "Of course, unless they've gotten themselves lost like you – hey! Al!"

Albus raced toward the group gathering at Hagrid's feet, most of the students staring at the half-giant in wonder. He wove through the others, eyes searching about for a blonde head. At one point, he made eye contact with Rose and she opened her mouth to speak to him, but he changed directions quickly. It didn't take long for Albus to start worrying as he hunted through the other first years. What if Scorpius never got off the train?

"Right then, time to get moving," Hagrid ordered.

A wave of panic rushed over Albus – they couldn't leave without Scorpius!

"Oh, you really _are_ looking for me, then."

The words of halt he meant to shout at Hagrid died on Albus's tongue. In disbelief, he slowly turned around to find Scorpius standing directly behind him, watching him inquisitively with each hand stuffed in the sleeve of the opposite arm, light eyes almost glowing. Albus gawked at the other boy, mouth opening and closing as he tried to come up with something to say.

"Come on, Al!" Hagrid called, interrupting their staring contest. "You, too, er, other first year!"

Scorpius touched Albus's wrist, not fully holding it but applying a light pressure. His smile from before had returned in full force, and Albus felt the warmth from it and the touch. "Let's go. To Hogwarts."

Albus's own grin resurfaced. "Yeah," he breathed eagerly, "Let's go!"

-o-o-o-o-

"Slytherin!"

At that moment, the world as Albus knew it stopped turning.

_How?_ How could Scorpius have been sorted into Slytherin? He'd been absolutely certain that they would both be Gryffindors! It was a mistake. It _had_ to be! It was Scorpius's courage that got them away from the kidnappers, wasn't it? If anything, Albus's only worries were that Scorpius's calm, patient nature would get him in Hufflepuff, or that his intelligence would send him to Ravenclaw. But _Slytherin?_ After what James, Fred, and Louis told him? Not to mention, all of his uncles were against the Slytherin House!

"Albus Potter, _wake up!_"

An elbow in his side jolted Albus from his terrified thoughts. He shot an irritated glare at Rose who had been the one to elbow him, but she was pointing to the clearly irritated professor standing in front of them. It was then that he realized the professor was looking at him expectantly, as were all the other students.

"Well?" the professor asked. "Do you want to get sorted or not?"

"Huh?" Albus replied dumbly.

"It's your turn, Albus!" Rose whispered, but everyone heard her anyway and many laughed outright.

"Oh!" Albus quickly moved to the stool next to the professor and the laughing increased. He could feel his cheeks heat up and was thankful when the Sorting Hat settled on top of his head, its heavy rim falling over most of his face.

_"Hmm_,_"_ a deep voice suddenly filtered into his mind, _"a well balanced child, aren't you?"_

_Uh, I guess so,_ Albus responded, wondering if this was voice of "The Hat" that his dad often mentioned.

_"Yes, yes, intelligent enough for Ravenclaw, but with a certain wit to you,"_ the voice continued. _"How about Slytherin?"_

_No! _Albus thought automatically.

_"No? Well let's consider our other options then…"_

_But Scorpius is in Slytherin_, Albus thought to himself, the voice of The Hat fading into the back of his mind. _If it were with him, it might not be so bad… Dad even said it'd be okay… But it's Slytherin! James and Fred will make fun of me, too. I'd be the only one not in Gryffindor. It has to be Gryffindor, right?_

_"Gryffindor it is."_

Albus jumped when the voice boomed above him, "Gryffindor!"

_Wait!_ he thought fretfully, _I wasn't ready!_

"Come on, off the stool," the professor commanded with an exasperated sigh.

Albus was pulled to his feet and ushered toward the cheering Gryffindor table. "But I–"

"Now, now, off you go."

As he was greeted by many hands and hugs, Albus's eyes drifted to the Slytherin table where Scorpius sat and his breath caught in his throat at the other's gloomy expression. His insides all burned, like someone had come and ripped off the wings of all the butterflies.

Then Scorpius's eyes flickered down to the table and when he looked up again his expression was void of emotion.

-o-o-o-o-

"Scorpius! Scorpius, _wait!"_

Albus struggled to get through the crowded front hall as everyone bustled out of the Great Hall toward their respective House dormitories. He hadn't managed to eat much during dinner despite the amazing feast laid out before him due to his stomach tying up in knots every time he glanced at the Slytherin table. He did decide, however, that he was going to be friends with Scorpius Malfoy no matter what, even if they were in opposing Houses.

When he finally caught up to the newly-titled Slytherin, he was hurt to see that the blank expression was still in place rather than the warm smile he'd been greeted with at the station.

"Is there something you need, Albus Potter?" Scorpius asked politely, tone distant.

"What? Of course there is!" Albus insisted, starting to feel a bit angry but not enough to outweigh his anxiety. He grabbed the sleeve of the other's robe, clinging like a toddler. "Don't be like that. It doesn't matter that we're in different Houses. We can still be friends!"

"No," Scorpius replied firmly, "we can't."

Albus's grip tightened. "Why not?"

"How do you think your family would feel if you were friends with me?"

The fight with Rose immediately coming to mind, Albus tried to deny what he knew Scorpius was hinting at. "They wouldn't care! It's _just_ different Houses!"

"It's more than just different Houses. We barely know each other and we're quite different. I–" Scorpius cut off, suddenly looking incredibly vulnerable and not at all the composed, mysterious boy that Albus had come to associate him as, "I should have known better than to…"

With that, Scorpius shook off Albus's hand and hurried toward the other Slytherins heading down to the dungeons, leaving Albus to stand in shock and hurt.

But a rush of panic snapped Albus out of his stupor, and he yelled after the retreating Slytherin, "Scorpius Malfoy! I don't care what you say! I like you and I'm not giving up!"

All the animated chatter in the front hall ceased as everyone stopped to watch the two boys. Scorpius ignored their stares and disappeared in the Slytherin crowd and Albus blushed as everyone looked at him, intrigued.

Then someone whispered harshly, "Did that first year just confess to that other first year?" and the hall exploded with enthusiasm.

"Merlin! We haven't even been here four hours yet!"

"Aww, it looks like he was turned down."

"Go for it, little Gryffindor! Show him the lion's tenacity!"

"And to a Slytherin, too! That's courage for ya!"

"Ohhh, it's like Romeo and Juliet!"

"Like_ who?"_

Albus gaped in horror at what was unfurling before him. He stumbled as other students slapped him on the back with encouraging words. "No… No, wait… That's not what I…"

"Man, Al!" James suddenly appeared, grinning like crazy. "You trying to be a stud already? Wait till Mum and Dad hear about this!"

"No! I didn't mean it like that!" Albus adamantly claimed, trying to stop James as he bounded up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower. "Wait! That's not how I meant it!"

-o-o-

A couple of explanations:

I tried to make Scorpius more mature and advanced than a normal 11-year-old but, at the same time, still quite innocent. Draco may seem way off, but he did _cry_ in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom! The way he conducts himself in public will be different than his at-home attitude, I imagine.

Also, Harry and Rosie aren't unfeeling jerks – Harry is just ignorantly stupid at times and Rosie is the product of several generations of family feud. Plus, I see Ron as the type to tell stories exaggerating his own heroics and the wickedness of "bad guys" like the Malfoys, and Rosie is still only 12-ish. Most children don't consider making their own moral choices about others and rely on their parents' opinions (even the bookworms).

Hope you enjoyed it so far!


	2. Middle of the Middle

I have placed Scorpius at the end of his school year in age (an early July birthday) and Albus at the beginning of the year (a late August birthday). So Albus is almost a full year older than Scorpius. In this chapter, Albus is 14 and Scorpius 13, and they are third years.

I was told about a Japanese saying in regards to boys at the puberty age, how even dropping their chopsticks would turn them on. Don't know the official saying, but it made me laugh so I wanted to include it.

Another short chapter. Not sure how I feel about it; proceed with caution.

-o-o-

Albus slammed his newspaper to the kitchen table hard enough to topple Lily's orange juice, earning him a glare that he hardly noticed. His eyes were trained on the small report in the corner of the authority report section of _The Daily Prophet_ – so small that he almost overlooked it: _Aurors dispatched to Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire in response to commotion caused by unknown citizens; ministry officials to look into the possible provocations behind the disturbance. Initial reports confirm usage of dark magic._

_Possible provocations?_ Albus re-read the sentences again, frustrated by the lack of information on the seriousness of the "commotion" and "disturbance," and whether or not Scorpius and his family were okay. He had forced a goodbye out of his classmate only the day before – well, more like first asked, then demanded, and eventually begged for the Slytherin to acknowledge his parting statement – when they exited the train at King's Cross Station for the winter break. In the two-and-a-half years since they met, it seemed that Scorpius's favorite pastime had become evading Albus's attempts at friendship with those secretive smiles and playful smirks. The fact that he wasn't completely ignored kept Albus's butterflies and urged him to continue the connection.

Jolting from his thoughts at the sound of the front door opening, Albus bolted out of the kitchen, not realizing that he was snubbing Lily who had begun to complain at him, and managed to catch his father before the Auror could leave.

"Albus!" his mother yelled from another room. "Don't run in the house!"

Harry Potter eyed his huffing, flustered son warily. "I know what you're thinking, so don't even ask. No, you can't come."

"Huh?" Albus cocked an eyebrow in confusion, finally regaining his breath and straightening.

"I know you're worried about your…" Harry paused with a twitch of the lips, "_friend_, but this is an Auror matter and you'd only be in the way."

"Be in the way? What are you – wait!" Realization suddenly hitting, Albus grabbed his father's arm and clung. "Are you going to Malfoy Manor right now? Is that it? That's it, isn't it?"

Understanding his own folly, Harry sighed and tried to shake his second son off, but the boy had a strong quidditch-playing grip. "Al, I don't have time to discuss this. It's confidential anyway."

"You _always_ say that," Albus groaned.

"Because it's _always _true," Harry countered. He finally managed to pry the hand off, only to have Albus grab him with the other. Frustrated, he stared down his son with a stern expression. "Albus Pot–"

"Oh don't be so uptight, Harry," Ginny interrupted, appearing with a laundry basket floating next to her and hands full of fluffed blankets. "Of course he's worried. He's had a crush on the Malfoy boy for three years now."

"It hasn't been three years," Albus snapped, heatedly adding with blushing cheeks, "and I _don't _have a _crush_ on him!"

Ginny only smirked, amused, before continuing up the stairs with the laundry and Harry took Albus's moment of distraction to slip out the front door, disregarding the, "Hey! Wait!" that followed him. Harry was barely five steps from the door when Albus grabbed his arm again, matching his stride to keep up. He sent his son a glare and received a defiant one in return, not for the first time making him understand the positions of a certain Potions Master and Headmaster in regards to his own rebellious teenage years. Albus had very much inherited Harry's determination even in the face of authority. James was a brat, sure, causing all sorts of mischief, but was generally friendly and warm and knew how close to the line he could walk. Lily was kind and sweet, albeit utterly spoiled, so she never even tried to challenge the rules. Albus though… Albus could win anyone over with his open-hearted innocence, but once he set his mind to something it was like trying to pry a bulldog's jaws open with a crowbar to get him to stop.

"You _can't_ come," Harry repeated firmly, stopping as they reached the edge of the wards that prevented apparition directly onto the front lawn.

Albus's expression changed from insolent to apprehensive. "Did something bad happen? _The Daily Prophet_ just called it a 'disturbance.'"

Harry sighed. "Al, you know I can't–"

"Can't talk about it," Albus finished for him with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, I know." Then, impishly, "I guess I'll have to ask Uncle Ron."

"_Albus_," Harry warned and they met each other's eyes with the same amount of willpower. Then Harry sighed again and placed his hands on his son's shoulders, gently pushing Albus back inside the wards. "Just stay here. It's your Winter Break, for Merlin's sake! Enjoy it while you still can. Before you know it, you'll be working a job, eight to five, with no holidays, and unpaid overtime." Then, seeing his son's still-firm glare, "I'll come back as soon as I can to let you know that Scorpius and his family are fine."

With that, he stepped back from Albus, relieved when the boy didn't try to grab him again. He gave a small, quick smile and twisted into apparition.

Only to feel two hands latch onto his front as Albus dove forward.

Panicking, Harry secured Albus against his side the best he could as he was already apparating to the drive in front of Malfoy Manor that he had, fortunately, come to know well enough that he didn't need to focus too much on it and instead could focus on keeping his son in one piece. The suction of the apparition almost made him lose his grip but he managed to keep hold, and Albus's own hands were gripping him hard enough that the fabric being pulled was practically choking him. Then, he popped in unceremoniously on his backside on the rocky, white drive, with Albus landing painfully on top of him, knocking out his breath.

After much gasping and coughing, Harry finally righted himself and glowered at his son with all of his fatherly might. Albus, for his part, was wide-eyed and looked completely shocked by his own actions and at least had the decency to look timid and apologetic as his father rose up over him, furious. "_Albus Severus Potter!_ Do you have _any_ idea what could have happened to you if I hadn't reacted fast enough? You could have been splinched into pieces!"

"It was an accident!" Albus answered quickly. Then, realizing how stupid that sounded, "I mean, I just did it on an impulse!"

"You're _lucky_ that _impulse_ ended with your head and body in the same place!" Harry roared.

Before he could continue, however, another voice piped in, "What's this now? Bring-your-kid-to-work day?"

Andrew Witherton, a young Auror that had recently started working in the field, watched Harry and Albus inquisitively from farther up the drive. He grinned against Harry's obviously irritated scowl and said, "Which one is that? Little Al? He sure looks like you. Not so little anymore, yeah? He's the problem child, then? Teenagers, man."

Harry snorted at the comment, but gave Albus a look that said they'd be discussing the matter extensively when they returned home and then grabbed his son by the arm and stormed toward the gate leading into the Malfoy estate, not one for audiences. Albus, despite being fearful as to the coming punishment that would most definitely ruin the rest of his Winter Break, curiously examined the ornate gate and the tall snow-covered hedges that guarded the drive, as well as the mansion that towered above them all against the blue winter sky. Rose had told him that the Malfoys were well-to-do, but Scorpius was always so reserved that Albus had never given much thought to the matter.

"Why don'tcha put him with Doeble's kid?" Witherton asked when they finally reached him.

Harry paused. "What do you mean?"

"Doeble brought her kid, too. Something about needing to take him to the wand shop once we're finished here and not wanting to make more trips than she had to. He's sitting on the benches in the front garden."

"I see," Harry murmured and dragged Albus the rest of the way to the gate. He lifted his wand, but then paused mid-incantation. Letting go of Albus, he reached up and easily pushed his hand through the gate like it were smoke, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Turning back to Witherton, he asked, "The wards are down?"

Witherton shrugged. "Been that way since we got here. Markl said he checked the lot and can't find anything out of the ordinary. Malfoys aren't talking either. That's why Markl asked for you, said you have a history with them."

Sighing heavily, Harry muttered, "Come on, Al," and walked through the smoky gate.

Albus blinked in wonder when he couldn't see his father on the other side, and then a hand appeared and grabbed the front of his robes, pulling him through as well. Once on the other side, the powerful, clean image of Malfoy Manor changed drastically: the hedges were patchy and obviously overgrew in the summer, the smooth walkway from outside the gates was un-shoveled and Albus's feet sank into deep snow, most of the mansion's windows were boarded and the walls covered in thick vines, and the air itself seemed to get colder. Albus shivered and hung close to his father's side.

They clomped through the snow until they came upon an opening in the hedge. Albus looked through and could see Frederick Doeble, a fifth year in Hufflepuff, making a large snowman on top of what was possibly a stone bench under layers of snow. He caught Albus looking and gave a half wave before his eyes traveled to Harry and he stared for a moment before returning to the snowman.

"Go wait with him, Al," Harry said, giving Albus a light push in Frederick's direction.

"But I'm already here!" Albus protested. "Can't I just go inside and see Scorpius?"

"You weren't invited," Harry said flatly.

"But–"

"I said _no_. You are to _stay_ _here_, no _accidents_ this time," Harry ordered resolutely with another threatening glare. After a moment of consideration, he added teasingly, "This is part of your punishment. So close to your boyfriend, yet so far away."

Predictably, Albus's face heated up, reddening his cheeks even more than they already were from the cold. "He's _not_ my _boyfriend!_ Man, why do I have to get that from you, too? One thing! I said one thing in first year and everyone took it the wrong way!"

Harry patted him on the back. "Maybe if you didn't talk about him all the time then no one would remember that one thing."

"Not _all_ the time," Albus mumbled and started to stomp off to Frederick. He heard his name called and he turned just in time to catch his father's heavy outer robe. Harry nodded at him and then disappeared from the gap in the hedge. Albus gratefully slipped into the thick, warm robe, not having taken his own in his flight from the house. It was a bit big on him, but that made it all the easier to burrow into. Well, at least his father wasn't so mad as to let him freeze. Maybe he could play the innocent, puppy-eyed card and sidestep his way into a light punishment.

"Was that your dad?" Frederick asked when Albus stopped beside him. "We've started reading on the two Dark Wars, so his name comes up a bunch." He grinned broadly. "Course, with Jamesy and Freddy around, we don't really need the books, right? Can just ask them for all the fun facts."

"I wouldn't trust anything those two say," Albus cautioned humorously and Frederick laughed loudly.

"So, you here to see your darling Slytherin?" Frederick laughed again when Albus started sputtering. "Can't stand to be away, hm?"

"That's not it!" Albus denied, eye twitching in irritation. "I just came along is all! It's not like that anyway. Scorpius and I are _just_ friends."

"Friends, uh-huh," Frederick teased. "That's why he never talks to you but you stalk him, yeah?"

"I'm not stalking him! I just– he's, well– I mean…" Albus struggled to find a way to describe his connection to the Slytherin. "We're _friends_," he finished lamely.

Frederick chuckled as he hefted the large ball of snow he rolled onto the one that was already waiting on the stone table. "Don't get upset. I'm just teasing you. Besides, all the girls think it's adorable, how you follow him around, trying to get his attention. You should play it up while you can. You want to get in good with the girls. It makes him less threatening, too."

Albus startled at this. "Less threatening?"

"Yeah, you know. 'Cause of his eyes. I remember when your year went through sorting," Frederick explained, starting on a new snowball as he did. "Everyone was talking about how scary the little ghost kid with Death's Eyes was, but with you around him all the time I guess we all just forgot about it, you know? I've only ever seen him smile around you, and the girls are even starting to talk about how he's kinda cute."

Albus stared in shock at Frederick. He hadn't heard anyone say something like that before now. It was always him defending Scorpius against the "Death's Eyes" whispers. But they had been at Hogwarts for more than two years and their underclassmen didn't seem as freaked out by Scorpius as the upperclassmen did. Was it because he was always there, with Scorpius? Making him "less threatening" to the others? Albus often wondered about the other Slytherins in their year and how they felt about Scorpius. Scorpius was surrounded by them constantly, but Albus rarely saw them talking to him. Did Scorpius really only smile around Albus? Did that make him Scorpius's best friend?

A ball of cold ice suddenly covered Albus's face. He quickly brushed away the offending snow and coughed out the ice that had hit him in the mouth, glaring at Frederick who was laughing madly from the other side of the table. "What was that for?"

"Had to get the conceited grin off your face somehow!" Frederick chocked out between laughs. "Inflated that ego of yours, didn't I? Didn't know you were so _in love_. Can't wait to tell Jamesy!"

"It's _not_ like that!" Albus howled and scooped up his own handful of snow, launching it at the still-laughing Hufflepuff.

Frederick easily dodged and both boys began crazily making snowballs. In just a few moments, they had an all-out war going, each having his own self-created mound-fort on either side of the half-finished snowman. Then Albus's immediate supply was depleted and before he could ball up another round, Frederick came flying over the top of his mound, arms full of snowballs. Albus took off, abandoning his mound, and fled through the opening in the hedge, a snowball barely missing him. He could hear Frederick running and laughing behind him, but ducked quickly under the hedge through a gap that wouldn't have existed had the estate been properly cared for.

A few more turns later, he slowed to a stop, his lungs hurting from huffing and laughing in the cold air. He expected Frederick to be on his heels, but when he turned around he couldn't see Frederick anywhere behind him. Giving another laugh, he called, "Come on! Don't be sneaky about it! I know you're there!"

His response was just the wind blowing over the tops of the hedges. Albus quickly dropped down and made a few more snowballs, gathering them up in his arms when they were ready. He cautiously began easing around the corners of the hedge, feeling as though he were in a maze – and very well could have been. Another couple of long minutes of silence had Albus shifting uncomfortably. He frowned and yelled again, "Hey! It's no fun if you're just gonna wait for me to come to you! Let's go already!"

"Yeah,_ let's go_."

Albus barely had time to turn at the deep voice behind him before he was hit with a blinding white light.

-o-o-o-o-

"–of your mind?"

Albus groaned as he woke up to the two yelling voices.

"Look, he was there, so I grabbed him."

"Yes, you idiot, I can see that. Do you have any idea who that kid is?"

"Of course I do! I just figured we could get something for him, too. You said the guy who wanted the Malfoy brat was still pissin' about the war, so I thought he might also want the Potter kid, you know?"

"The Malfoys are sealed, they can't follow us, but Potter is an Auror! Not to mention most of his relatives are hardcore Order members! We're gonna get locked up in Azkaban!"

"What the hell is Order?"

As they continued arguing, Albus groggily pushed off of the tile floor and slowly sat up, dizzily taking in his surroundings. He was in someone else's kitchen except something felt off about the kitchen, aside from that it wasn't his. He blinked at the two men standing near the door, not recognizing either one of them. He didn't remember going anywhere; he didn't remember much of anything actually. Where had he even been before this? Shouldn't he at home? Winter Break was just starting, right?

"Hello, Albus Potter."

Recognizing that quiet voice instantly, Albus snapped his attention to the table, immediately regretting the action when his head throbbed. But even through blurry eyes he was able to make out the thin form of Scorpius Malfoy, hair that fell over the midnight blue, short sleeper robe shining like moonlight. Albus closed his eyes for a moment but when he reopened them, Scorpius was still sitting before him. Scorpius smiled softly at this and Albus smiled dopily back, still quite confused. He then realized his eyes were level with Scorpius's barely covered and rather nice legs and, blushing, he quickly looked away, again regretting the action when another headache welled.

_It's not like that. It's not like that. It's not like that,_ Albus repeated over and over in his mind. _I'm just at that age_, he told himself, _Even dropping my chopsticks would…_ He blushed even redder and rubbed at his eyes, trying to force that line of thinking from his head.

"All right, you're awake. Come on, stand up."

Albus felt a strong pair of hands take hold of his arms and he was lifted to his feet, nearly losing his stomach in a wave of nausea. The hands guided him to a chair at the table and he appreciatively slumped into it.

"Hands face down on the table, please."

Obediently placing his hands on the table in front of him, Albus watched as a wand was tapped to each hand, a warm feeling spreading from the taps. When he tried to lift his hands to look at them, they wouldn't budge from the surface of the table. Confused, he glanced over and saw that Scorpius's hands were on the table as well and Scorpius gave him a sad smile in response to his questioning look. Then he felt a tap on his legs and when he tried to scoot in the chair, he found that he was stuck to it, too.

"Here, drink." A glass was held to his mouth. "Water will make you feel better."

Another alarmed, questioning look at Scorpius had the other boy nodding comfortingly and Albus carefully began to drink the water. From the first sip his mind instantly started to clear and the more he drank the more he felt like he was waking up from a hazy dream. As soon as he finished the glass he remembered everything, from the newspaper he'd been reading at his home to the snowball fight with Frederick at Malfoy Manor. He twisted around as best he could with his hands and bum stuck to look at the man giving him the water.

"What is this? What's going on?" Albus demanded. "Where are we?"

The man sighed and set the now empty glass in the sink. "It doesn't matter where we are. Just sit tight and you won't get hurt."

"We've been abducted again," Scorpius explained quietly. His smile brightened a bit. "This brings back memories, hm?"

Albus swallowed against the butterflies that the _smile_ brought back. _It's not like that. It's not like that. It's not like that!_ "What for?" He asked, turning back to the kidnapper. "What's the point of taking us?"

"Look, kid, I don't know," the man groaned. "It's just my job to work these shady deals. I don't know what the guy wants with your friend here. It's your own fault for running straight to my moron of a partner. Just shut up and don't cause me any more problems than I already have."

Albus glared at the man but he only dropped into another chair at the table, pulling out a crossword puzzle to work. With an angry huff, Albus started to look around the kitchen, trying to find a clue to their location. Something about the kitchen still felt off to him… Was it even a kitchen? Maybe it was only magicked to look like a kitchen, to confuse him.

Scorpius noticed him looking and said, "It's a muggle's house."

"Really?" Albus now looked around more curiously and did indeed notice things that weren't normally in his kitchen while several objects that were in his kitchen were missing from this one. "Huh. I wonder how they make toast without a goblin-grabber."

"They use a toaster," the man said gruffly, using a pen – Albus was surprised he had one – to point at a shiny object on the counter. "Now, shut up."

Albus glared again but didn't say anything else. His legs were starting to go numb so he stretched his feet out in front of him. As he did so, his feet brushed against something that he soon realized was Scorpius's leg and he jerked them back against his chair, glancing at Scorpius to see if the other boy noticed. There was a twitch of a smile and Albus felt himself blushing again.

"All right, I'm stuck again," the man said. He looked expectantly at Scorpius. "What's a three letter word for 'poetic your'?"

"Thy," Scorpius answered.

"Thigh? Like your legs?"

Albus, as per usual, was entranced by the way Scorpius's soft hair moved when he shook his head (this often led to his distraction in classes, earning him more than one poor mark because of a botched spell). "No, as in, 'Where are thy allies?' T. H. Y. Thy."

"I see. What about a five letter word for 'raises children'?"

Scorpius considered this for a moment. "'Rears.'"

"Ahh, yeah," the man scribbled the answer in, "That make sense. I kept thinking it was a variation for mother or father."

Albus cocked an eyebrow. "Have you two been doing this long?"

Scorpius gave a slight nod. "It helps pass the time."

"Pass the time? How long have we been here?" Albus asked. Surely no more than an hour could have passed since they were taken from Malfoy Manor.

"I have been here since yesterday evening. You have been here for half an hour," Scorpius informed, biting his lip to keep from grinning at Albus's flabbergasted expression.

"Yesterday evening? You mean, you weren't at your home this morning, when I was there?" Albus's confusion grew at Scorpius's head shake. "But… but the Aurors were there, and Dad and I saw Andrew Witherton and he said that the place had been checked and everything was fine, so if you weren't there then how could everything be fine? Weren't your parents the ones who notified the ministry that something was wrong? You mean, you've been here _all night?_ All by _yourself?_ With _this guy?_ How come my dad didn't know about this? Andrew Witherton didn't look alarmed at all, even Frederick Doeble's mum brought him along! Shouldn't they've known that you weren't there?"

Scorpius waited until Albus stopped to take a breath, accustomed to the Gryffindor rambling when flustered, before explaining, "The ministry is notified any time a certain level of magic is used through a proper wand at the manor. The spell is similar to that of the underage trace. My parents will not speak to anyone they do not trust, so the Aurors that were at the manor when you arrived would, most likely, be uninformed of the situation. And, yes, I was here all night with this gentleman and his accomplice."

Albus stared in shock, mouth open, but the "gentleman" grumbled, "Hey, shut it you two. I can't concentrate with you yapping."

Ignoring him, Albus asked, "They kept you in that chair all night?"

"Don't be a fool," the man snapped, interrupting Scorpius. "I'm not that much of a jackass. Just tied him to one of the beds. Now shut up before I magic your mouth away."

Images of Scorpius tied to a bed wearing nothing but that short, completely leg-revealing night robe were in Albus's head directly, causing him to stir awkwardly and blush so hard he thought his ears might catch on fire. _I'm just at that age! That's all it is! It's not like that or anything!_ He shot a sideways glance at Scorpius like before, only this time Scorpius met his eyes with a perceptive smirk and Albus quickly focused on the table in front of him. _Oh Merlin, he knows! He so knows what I was thinking of! But it's not like that, I swear! It's his fault for wearing that anyway! Can't he wear something longer like my old Harpies T-shirt?_

The images flashed through his mind again, this time with Scorpius wearing his shirts, and Albus smacked his forehead to the table surface, earning him a glare from the kidnapper and a quiet half-laugh from Scorpius. Albus knew, then and there, that it is indeed possible for ears to catch on fire.

Maybe if his hands sweated enough, the sticking spell would break.

Suddenly, the whole room shook as if something lifted and dropped it quickly. All three bounced in their chairs, Albus and Scorpius finding the jolted movement extra painful as they couldn't brace themselves away from the chairs. The kidnapper dropped his crossword immediately and gripped his wand, standing to his feet so fast that the chair toppled over backwards. There was the sound of someone running down the hall and then the other kidnapper appeared in the doorway, breathing quickly and starting to sweat, clearly panicking.

"What? What is it?" the first demanded, wand raising up defensively. "What the hell was that?"

"There are Aurors outside!" the other choked out. "That was my outer ward! They've already gotten through it! The inner one's next!"

"What?" the first bellowed, starting to panic himself. "How did they find us so soon?"

"Oh, that would be because of me," Scorpius piped in, smiling his secretive smile that had Albus wanting to bang his head on the table again. "I sent a spell-message to my father a little while ago."

Another powerful shake of the house had the two kidnappers stumbling. The crossword one held onto the counter for support and yelled, "And how did you do that, with your hands stuck to that table?"

"Well, the binding spell…"

"Yeah?"

Scorpius lifted his hands freely off the table, holding them up for the two to see, and said with a jaded sigh, "I de-magicked it."

The kidnappers both stared in astonishment. Then the first gave a sigh himself and barely had time to mutter a dejected, "Aww, popcorn whistles," before Aurors burst into the room.

-o-o-

Albus fully expected to never walk again once his father got a hold of him and beat his butt black and blue, but as soon as the "villains" were incapacitated, Harry Potter flew to his son and pulled him in for a hug so tight it made Albus cough and gasp for air. Then he drew back and clasped Albus's face in his hands with a vice-like grip, saying, with a little bit of shaking, "This, _this_, is why you stay home when I tell you to! _This_ is why you stay put when I tell you to!" And then Albus was drawn in for another air-stealing hug, much to his embarrassment.

"Come on, Harry, let's get the paperwork out of the way so you can take him home," Markl said, appearing next to them. "If you take those idiot snatchers, I'll ask the compulsory questions for these two."

Harry nodded with a sigh and released Albus, giving one last firm hand squeeze on the shoulder. "Yeah, I imagine Mr. Malfoy is ready to go home, too. Al, you know the drill. Just answer everything you know and, for Merlin's sake, don't go anywhere. Just stay in the kitchen."

"Yeah, I know," Albus mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"All right then," Markl started as soon as Harry left. "Give me a moment to fix this place up so the muggles won't come back to a wrecked kitchen, and then we'll get down to the questions, okay?"

Albus nodded and Markl set to work fixing the damage. There was a gentle tug on Albus's sleeve and he glanced back to find Scorpius standing directly behind him, eyes focused on him in that intense way and yet were somehow uneasy at the same time. It gave Scorpius the rare appearance of simply being a young teenager rather than the adept wizard that out-spelled everyone in their year and the two years above. When Albus fully turned to face Scorpius, he expected Scorpius to let go of him, but instead Scorpius slipped the hand down his sleeve till the opening, almost holding hands with him. Albus felt the butterflies start to choke him again.

"Questions?" Scorpius asked, evidently uncomfortable with the idea.

"Ju-just the s-standard questions," Albus stuttered, practically feeling the warmth of Scorpius's hand so close to his. "Things like where we were taken from and how we were treated. Simple questions."

"Oh? Is that all?" Scorpius took a step ever so slightly closer and Albus's knuckles brushed – just lightly – against his bare thigh.

"You know what?" Albus said, voice strained and little high-pitched, as he jerked back from Scorpius. He quickly and clumsily began unfastening his dad's outer robe that he still wore. "You're probably freezing! Only wearing… that… Uh, yeah, you're definitely freezing!"

Peeling the robe off, Albus held it out for Scorpius to take, not meeting the other boy's eyes.

"No, it's okay," Scorpius said, watching him questioningly. "I'm fine. I have warming charms–"

Albus forced the robe into Scorpius's hands. "You're _freezing!_" he insisted, voice so high-pitched now it was unrecognizable. He didn't even have to look to know that Scorpius was smiling brightly, _knowingly_, at him.

"Thank you, Albus Potter," Scorpius said warmly, humorously, as he pulled on the robe.

"All right, that's the last of it." Markl walked over to the two of them again, having finished the kitchen repairs. "Just the usual hoopla and then we can get you two– You okay there, Al?"

"I'm fine," Albus muttered, eyes trained on the tiled kitchen floor.

"You sure?" Markl was starting to sound worried. "You're awfully red. Feeling sick?"

"I'm fine," Albus repeated with a little more force.

"If you're feeling sick we can always–"

"_I'm_ _fine!_"

-o-o-o-o-

"Saw in the _Prophet_ that you had a fun Winter Break."

Scorpius looked up from the textbook he was reading at his three fellow Slytherins entering the train compartment. They were in his year and more or less always stuck nearby to catch any extra notes or essay tips he was willing to share. Not that he minded; it merely displayed their cleverness. After all, keeping on polite terms with the professors' favorite earned them goodwill points, as well as intimidated the students too afraid of getting close to the "ghost Slytherin with Death's Eyes." Though initially this image was depressing, Scorpius had noticed that, recently, the other students seemed to be relaxing in their unjustified fear. The two years under him oddly didn't even appear to notice him.

"I suppose," Scorpius answered, knowing they weren't too interested in details. _The Daily Prophet_ had only mentioned his name just once, focusing entirely on a brave father's rescue of his damsel-in-distress son – Scorpius was positive that Albus was mortified as soon as the owls landed with that one. The thought brought a smile to his face.

The other Slytherins were still sorting their luggage onto the racks when the compartment door slid open again, revealing a determined-looking but pink-cheeked Albus Potter.

"What do you want now, Gryffindor?" one of the Slytherins sighed. Albus hanging around all the time was an accustomed tradition from their first year.

"Uh, hey, yeah…" Albus mumbled, shifting on his feet nervously before saying his usual, "Can I talk to you, Scorpius?"

"Why'd I even bother asking," the same Slytherin muttered.

Scorpius stood and slipped around the other Slytherins so that he could talk to Albus without having to look around the bodies fighting against the luggage, responding in his usual, "Is there something you need, Albus Potter?"

Albus opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by someone shouting, "Oi! Potter, you're blocking the hall!"

With an irritated glare at the offending person, Albus took a couple of steps forward halfway into the Slytherin compartment to make room in the narrow hallway, but Scorpius couldn't take a couple of steps back due to the other Slytherins behind him, leaving them uncomfortably close. Albus felt his palms start to sweat from the closeness, and Scorpius frowned at being trapped.

"Anyway," Albus started again, "About _The Daily Prophet_, I'm sorry they made it sound the way they did, like it was all about me or something. My dad told me about the seals on your– ow!"

A sharp trunk edge in his back had Albus glaring over his shoulder again as the other person shouted her apology.

"_Anyway_," Albus continued, "I just want you to know that I've decided I'm going to get all those seals removed. It's just not right!"

"Albus," Scorpius said kindly, and Albus immediately recognized this as the you-are-wrong-and-I-am-correcting-you-gently tone, "there are people in the ministry who would rather die than ever allow that to happen. You'd have to become the Minister of Magic to ever have any sway over changing those laws."

"Then I will become Minister of Magic!" Albus claimed, shooting a, "Shut up!" and the snickering Slytherins in the compartment. He jolted as he was shoved from behind again, having to brace his hands on either side of the door to keep from falling into Scorpius.

"You're in the way, Potter!" came the subsequent excuse.

"I've already made room!" Albus snapped back. As soon as the danger of the latest trunk was gone, he lowered his hands. "Anyway! I'm saying that I'll do it because it's not right and you and your family have just as much right to live freely as everyone else."

"Albus," Scorpius sighed, shaking his head.

"No, I'm serious!" Albus insisted. "You just watch! I'll do so well on exams that I'll rival even you! And I'll keep doing well so that I can get an internship in the ministry, and once I do, I'll–"

"_Move it_, Potter!"

Albus didn't have time to brace himself against the shove this time and flew forward, right into an unable-to-escape Scorpius, their noses bumping and lips crashing together awkwardly and painfully. Everyone in the crowded hallway and compartment gasped and Albus froze, staring into Scorpius's bright, wide eyes. Then, for a moment, Albus was tempted to really lean in and truly kiss the other.

The sound of someone dropping their trunk in shock snapped Albus awake before he could do so and he shot backwards, bumping into the students behind him. Scorpius's hand flew to his lips and he was still wide-eyed and completely stunned. Albus opened and closed his mouth, barely making noises as he tried to think of something to say. Naturally, someone else beat him to it.

"Great Merlin's pink panties! Albus Potter just kissed Scorpius Malfoy!"

And the message shot off toward both ends of the train faster than fire on oil.

"Potter finally did it! He went for it!"

"Did you hear? He said he was _serious_ about Malfoy!"

"Do we have to worry about chastity-stealing if it's a Slytherin?"

"What took Potter so long? He confessed _years_ ago!"

"Must be puberty! The hormones totally got to him!"

"_NO!_" Albus bellowed, but everyone ignored him as the gossip continued. "That's not it! Stop saying that!"

A sharp finger poking him in the shoulder had Albus turning back to the compartment that Scorpius was in, except now one of the other Slytherins had stepped in front of Scorpius protectively. Said Slytherin was already a beater for their House and he cracked his knuckles together and stared Albus down threateningly. He didn't say anything, but after a moment of intimidation, he stepped back into the compartment and slammed the door shut in Albus's face.

"Nooo," Albus groaned, knowing that he had just lost his immunity from the Slytherin House and would now be treated like every other Gryffindor, meaning talking to Scorpius would become quite a bit more difficult than it already was. "It was an accident!"

Then someone shouted, "Wait till Jamesy hears about this!"

Albus spun in the direction of shout with a terrified, "No, no, no, no!" and he tried to shove his way through the crowded hall to stop whichever person had the intentions of telling his brother.

"You can't tell him! _You can't tell him!_"

-o-o-

Hope you enjoyed it. =)

Please review!


	3. Last of the Last Albus

-wince-

I am sorry this took so long. I wrote, deleted, and re-wrote this chapter many, many times. I finally decided to break it into two versions. This one is from Albus's POV – Scorpius's chapter should be along shortly.

Honestly, the first chapter and the last chapter were both originally to be one-shots before I decided to connect them, making these middle chapters all explanation and filler-y. Hope it's not too yawn-ish. =)

-o-o-o-o-

"Grindylow."

In response to the password, the stones in front of Albus scraped and slid until they formed a doorway in the wall, opening to the Slytherin common room. Stepping through, Albus searched the green and silver decorated dungeon, not at all feeling nervous or out of place despite his red and gold tie, lion shaped year pin, and lion-emblazoned prefect badge. A few heads turned at his entrance but they, upon seeing that it was Albus, simply ignored him as though having this Gryffindor stand in their midst was an everyday occurrence – which was close enough to the truth. While Albus could not claim that he was in the Slytherin dungeon every day, he was there weekly at the least. The beginning of the year was always the most amusing, when the first years were shocked that none of the older students cared.

Spotting the person he'd come to visit – the reason he had started visiting in the first place – Albus grinned and jogged over to the pamphlet covered table. "Scorpius!"

The Head Boy didn't glance up, eyes roaming over the various careers laid out before him, and was absentmindedly eating some chocolates – no doubt given to him by the senders of the leaflets. As his hand dipped to pick up another sweet, Albus slid onto the bench and caught the hand, stealing and eating the chocolate from between the long, delicate fingers.

"You too, huh? Rosie's been swamped with them," Albus said around the chocolate with a nod at the brochures. Ever since their N.E.W.T. scores were posted the week prior, the Great Hall flooded with pamphlet-bearing owls each morning. He arched an eyebrow at the bemused Slytherin. "Distracted much? You didn't even hear me call your name."

There was a secret in Scorpius's smile as he withdrew his hand from Albus's own. "I believe you are highly sought after as well."

"Yeah, I guess." Albus shrugged, and then, stealing another chocolate, added with a smirk, "But I already know what I want to do."

"I see."

Albus frowned at the tone. It was the tone that meant Scorpius neither supported nor opposed his decision but had a high level of doubt about the topic.

"I know it's dangerous," he said, scooting closer. His knee bumped against Scorpius, but he acted like he didn't notice and hadn't done so on purpose. Propping an arm on the table, he dropped his chin into hand and scowled down at the leaflets. "My parents are trying to talk me out of it, especially Dad, the hypocrite. I thought he'd be excited that I was applying to Auror training."

"Excited?" Scorpius hummed in question.

Albus pretended to glance at a pamphlet, flipping it over, and then dropped it to casually lower his hand to the small of Scorpius's back, again shifting a bit closer. "Well, not _excited_, but not so against it. I know it's not _pleasant_ work, but it's the fastest way to get my foot in the door with the Ministry, especially since everyone already knows Dad."

Scorpius's eyes were focused on a brochure about mediwizards and he didn't appear to notice the inappropriateness of their proximity, probably too accustomed to it. "Using your family name?"

"Well… it's not like I plan on being an evil dark lord, so…" Albus fidgeted, uncomfortable with the topic, "So why not? If my name gets me where I need to be to help people, then… I'll use it… I think…"

"You should have been in Slytherin," Scorpius said, smirking.

"Wha-! With all this raw courage, no way!" Albus denied, puffing up with a forced laugh. Their eyes finally met and Albus deflated with a sigh. "Yeah, I should have been in Slytherin."

"What _should have been_ isn't the issue here," a strong, female voice said from behind them. They both turned to find May Finberry, the seventh year Slytherin prefect (Scorpius having been her counterpart before being promoted to Head Boy), standing with her hands on her hips and glaring down at Albus authoritatively. "Slytherin at heart or not, you're still a _Gryffindor_, so _get out_ of our common room!"

There were snickers from the other Slytherin students, even as May demanded to know who had given "this idiot" the password, _again_.

"Aw, it's a little late for that, isn't it?" Albus joked. "The year's over in six weeks and I've been in here all the time since fourth year anyway, even if you did keep changing the password on me this year. Which is annoying, by the way."

May narrowed her eyes and merely ordered darkly, "_Remove _him, _Junior_."

Albus's shoulders tensed at the Slytherin beater's strong presence behind him. Hastily getting to his feet, stumbling over Scorpius in the process, Albus backed his retreat to the exit, hands up to show defenselessness, as Adelbert Rascher Jr. bore down on him. "Hey, hey, let's think about this. If I had been sorted to Slytherin, we'd of been a great team on the pitch. With you as beater and me as keeper, no one would score on us!"

"If you fancy Slytherin so much, you should'uv thrown the matches," came Junior's rumbling reply.

Albus cocked an eyebrow at this. "If I had, someone would've notice."

"A _true_ Slytherin wouldn't get caught."

"Touché!"

Junior simply grinned wickedly in response and winded his arm in a stretch, something he often did on the pitch before sending a well-aimed bludger in Albus's direction. Just as Albus backed against wall, the stones next to him opened for a couple of fourth years entering the common room. Albus ducked past them, barely avoiding the strong hands reaching for him, and made it to the safety of the hallway.

"So much for Gryffindor courage!" someone shouted amongst the laughter in the common room.

"Hey!" Albus protested, pointing a finger at the young Slytherin in mock anger. "It takes a special kind of courage to be bold enough to run away!" Albus jumped back again when Junior moved to stand in the doorway, arms folded over his chest and a smirk on his face. Leaning to look around him, Albus waved bye to Scorpius who was still sitting calmly at the table. "Thanks for the chocolates!"

Scorpius responded with a small wave of his own and only an indulgent smile for the cooing banter that erupted.

-o-o-o-o-

The night before their last Hogsmeade weekend, Albus had stopped by the second floor bathroom after dinner on his way to Gryffindor tower when he noticed a small, crumpled note on expensive parchment in the trash can which read in elegant handwriting:

_"S. Malfoy,_

_As neither of us have previous engagements, meet me behind the greenhouses at 7:00 PM tonight._

_E.E."_

Frantically, Albus checked his watch. It was 6:58. With an angry shout, he bolted from the bathroom and ran back down the stairs he'd just climbed, taking them in leaps of two and three.

Albus didn't have to question the identity of "E.E.," or why he had asked that Scorpius meet him behind the greenhouses. Only one student had those initials, that arrogant tone, and fancy handwriting: Ethan Evans, a sixth year Ravenclaw prefect, and a constant thorn in Albus's side. Every prefect meeting – _every single meeting_ – ended with Albus wanting to hex the younger student into a blob of boils; the conceited Ravenclaw yielded to no one, not even the professors, save for Scorpius. It seemed the Head Boy was the only person Evans deemed worthy enough to stand on his level – and, apparently, worthy enough for his affections.

_That arrogant little…_

Every student in Hogwarts knew what went on behind the greenhouses. The small area was shielded on all sides by willow trees, making it difficult for anyone looking in to see what was happening. Students could easily slip down to the greenhouses unobserved by curious friend, ill-intentioned foe, or stern professor. With these advantages in mind, the spot was often used for _private discussions_ – which was just a fancy way of saying _confessions_.

Albus would rather take a quill tip to his eyes than sit back while Evans confessed to Scorpius.

A tad overprotective, yes, especially for a _friendship_ – which was all he had with Scorpius, despite the popular gossip circulating the school rumor circuit. Albus had received a few confessions under the willows himself, but they always started with, "I know you're already with the Head Boy, but…" Embarrassing, to be honest, but Albus, well…

Well, he desperately wished all the rumors were true.

"At that age" – what bullshit. Denial wouldn't change the fact that he'd completely had the hots for Scorpius since they first met. The idea of Evans confessing to _his_ Slytherin made him throw up a little in his mouth and sprint harder when he heard the main clock start booming the struck hour.

Fourth year had rolled around with promises of more harassment from James, Fred, and generally all of Hogwarts – even Hugo and Lily, the little snots – Albus finally took a page from Scorpius's book of composure: smile, shrug, and let people think what they wanted. It was a hard change at first – a little torturous, actually – but he found soon enough that casual indifference rather than vehement denial made life considerably easier. Not only did the comments and jokes die down but he could also be around Scorpius whenever he wanted under the guise of "a good friendship" – more bullshit, but no one looked twice if best friends were sitting a bit too close.

_Whatever, any means to get what I want,_ Albus told himself.

_Slytherin_, his mind rightfully accused.

Once outside, Albus ran past the greenhouses, his side aching from the speed for such a distance, and felt his irritation increase when he heard faint voices from the willows. He was about to shove the thick tendrils out of his way and burst through the other side when he hesitated, his traitorous mind tossing out questions of doubt.

Would it really be okay if he interrupted?

What right did he have?

And, most of all, the question that plagued him more and more every day: Scorpius was bound to find someone special eventually; what would he do then?

Albus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, addressing the first two questions but, yet again, ignoring the third, _No. It's _Ethan Evans. _Scorpius wouldn't want to be alone with him._

Gathering up the pride from his Gryffindor half, Albus pushed his way through the thick willow branches, moving faster when the voices stopped on the other side. He saw the other two soon enough – both looking in his direction as they had heard him coming – and, once free of the branches, he jogged to Scorpius side, shooting Ethan Evans a glare. "What do you think you're doing, Evans?"

Evans's eyes narrowed on him but then jerked to Scorpius. "Interesting, how _he_ knew we were here."

"I, too, drop things on occasion," was Scorpius's quiet reply.

After almost seven years with the Slytherin Albus recognized the tinge of sarcastic humor and his lips twitched in a mild smirk.

"Is that so?" It was clear by his expression and tone that Evans hardly appreciated the sarcasm. His scowl settled on Albus once more, speaking to the intruder at last, "This is supposed to be a private meeting, _Potter_, one that you were _not_ invited to. _Leave_."

"_No_," Albus refused, and faced Evans squarely. The sixth year was slightly taller than him but they were otherwise evenly matched, glare for glare. "You have a lot of nerve calling Scorpius out here."

"I believe I have an adequate amount of _nerve_," Evans countered coldly. "What's appalling is that you think you have the right to interrupt. Surely you haven't deluded yourself so far as to honestly _believe_ the imaginary relationship you so pathetically perpetuate? It's disgusting the way you prance about trying to get Malfoy's attention when it's clear that he only _tolerates_ your behavior because he has the sense of propriety that you _lack._"

_Ouch._ Evans certainly knew where the weak spot in Albus's armor was, his sharp words stabbing right into the Gryffindor's insecurities. Albus's hand reflexively dove into his pocket for his wand, but he felt warm fingers close around his wrist, stopping him from drawing it. He glanced back at Scorpius, anger subsiding almost instantly at the comforting smile.

Turning back to Evans, Albus imitated the younger man's haughty sneer mockingly. "There's no harm in letting people think what they want to, whether it's true or not. I _am_ Scorpius's _friend_, and I'm not going to let a ponce like you try to take advantage of his kindness."

"How _dare_–"

"That's enough," Scorpius cut in softly, easily gaining their attention. He smoothly stepped between them, amusement clear in his expression. "I've seen what I came here to see."

Evans's eyed Scorpius suspiciously before his mouth dropped slightly in shock. "You–!"

"Albus," Scorpius interrupted again and faced the Gryffindor, moving the hand from Albus's wrist to push gently against his arm, "Wait for me in the East greenhouse? I'll only be a minute."

Albus glanced at the darkening expression on Evans's face and hesitated. "Are you sure? I just got here and I came to get you…"

"Mm-hm, I know," Scorpius hummed with another gentle push.

Albus cautiously moved to leave, trusting Scorpius to be able to handle himself but not trusting Evans to take the rejection like a gentleman. Scorpius truly was too kind and would probably let the younger brat be insulting without reprimand. Another calculating glance at Evans showed the boy to be scowling at them both, and Albus couldn't help but first smirk triumphantly and then give his own hostile glare in return, daring the Ravenclaw to try anything.

As soon as he ducked out of the willow branches, he headed to the eastern-most greenhouse as Scorpius had asked, feeling smug with having barged in on and ruined the confession but useless with having been kicked out so quickly.

Just another example of how Scorpius didn't need his help, he supposed. Uselessness was depressing.

The East greenhouse was full of flowers and reeked of their sweetness when he entered. Albus wrinkled his nose and dropped onto an overturned bucket. As he waited, his mind wandered to Scorpius and their odd friendship. Did the Slytherin know about his true affections? He tried not to be too obvious, but following someone around like a lovesick crackhead was hardly discreet. Sometimes, the clever, knowing way Scorpius looked at him made Albus think that Scorpius was aware of his obsession but the topic never came up in conversation.

Well, of course it didn't. That would just be insanely awkward.

…Right?

What _would_ Scorpius say if Albus one day called him down to the willows?

_He'd probably accept, just so he wouldn't hurt my feelings_, Albus thought with a depressed slouch to his shoulders. How was Scorpius so considerate and even-tempered after such a painful childhood?

It was no wonder that Albus was lovesick.

With a soft _click_ the door next to Albus opened and Scorpius slipped inside, smiling brightly when he saw Albus.

Albus grinned back and moved to stand, but a sudden wave of dizziness hit him and he stumbled back onto the bucket. When the dizziness cleared, he blinked up at Scorpius who was leaning over him in concern.

"Your low blood pressure again?" Scorpius asked with a wrinkled brow.

Albus chuckled awkwardly, embarrassed by his recent and repeated condition. Like always, his body feeling strangely warm, and he licked his already wet lips. They tingled oddly. "I guess that's what it was…"

The quick, secretive smirk from before appeared briefly on the Slytherin's face, but then Scorpius drew away to walk down the aisles of flowers, stopping by a large cabinet made of stone. Albus watched as he pulled on the thick gloves that were lying next to the cabinet and then took a fire-proof pouch from his pocket.

"Getting ingredients for a potion?" Albus asked.

Scorpius nodded with another bright smile and stepped to one side of the cabinet. He opened the stone door, using it as a shield when fire burst forth upon breathing the oxygen, and waited for the flames to die down before reaching inside to the fire lilies stored there.

"So…" Albus started, coughing awkwardly. "I suppose you told Evans to shove it then?"

_Nice,_ he thought with a wince,_ Real subtle and smooth._

Scorpius laughed quietly and clipped the top off of one smoldering flower, storing it in the pouch. "Mm, not quite in that manner, but yes. He's a tad upset, so let's politely keep it to ourselves, hm?"

"If we _have_ to," Albus sighed dramatically, sharing a grin with his friend. He stood as Scorpius closed off the burning plants and prepared to leave. "If I'm not allowed to gloat, will you at least stay with me all day tomorrow? In Hogsmeade? Just to tick him off?"

The secretive smirk appeared again.

"Of course I will."

-o-o-o-o-

The potions shop that Scorpius frequented was in a secluded part of Hogsmeade. Few residents or students were adventurous or advanced enough to necessitate a visit to the wayward shop that contained rather unusual ingredients. While Scorpius loved the shop – the earthy smell, the mysterious feel, the one-eyed, one-armed owner – Albus tended to stand awkwardly near the door, planning different routes of escape should one of the "ingredients" come to life and attack.

A paranoid strategist? Maybe. Growing up with an Auror for a father probably didn't help.

Seriously, though, what was breathing on him?

"Albus?"

He hadn't considered the shop to have a low ceiling until he nearly jumped into it, and shot a half-hearted glare at the amused Slytherin who'd snuck up behind him. Seeing the paper bag in Scorpius's arms, he asked hopefully, "Ready to go, then?"

Without waiting for an answer, Albus took Scorpius by the elbow and started tugging toward the door. Scorpius didn't resist and soon they were outside in the spring air, away from the heavy musk of the shop. Albus breathed in the fresh air deeply and released it as a sigh, ignoring the quiet laugh next to him.

"Where to now?" he asked.

"Wherever you'd like."

Albus considered this as they walked. They'd already visited the shops on the main street that morning. Lunch had been especially entertaining, with Ethan Evans glaring daggers at him and Scorpius from across Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

_I really am a Slytherin at heart_, Albus thought, grinning even now at just the memory. "Why don't we head back to The Three Broomsticks? It's our last Hogsmeade day…"

"And you want to spend the rest of it being social and showing off," Scorpius finished, a teasing lilt in his voice.

"What was that?" Albus scoffed and tugged so that Scorpius fell against him, laughing. "Are you being snarky?"

Distracted by the playful banter, a sharp _crack!_ of apparition directly in their path startled both, causing Albus to stumble into the unexpected arriver. The person jolted and spun around, red sparks flying from her wand and only just missing Albus's face as Scorpius ducked to the ground, grabbing Albus's hand to pull him down, too. Another spell was coming but Albus erected a shield charm before it could land, hand having drawn his wand and voice shouting the incantation on reflex and instinct, his mind only catching up once he and Scorpius were effectively protected behind the charm. A defensive hex was on the tip of his tongue when he recognized the woman's Magical Law Enforcement uniform.

"You're Enforcement!"

"Students?" the woman whispered harshly, eyes wandering over their House pins and ties and coming to rest on Scorpius's Head Boy insignia. She lowered her wand a fraction, but when she lifted her eyes to meet Scorpius's light ones she stiffened and glared at him questioningly. "If you're students of Hogwarts, then this must be Hogsmeade, yes?"

"Yeah, it is," Albus snapped and moved to stand in front of his friend, not at all liking the way the Magical Law Enforcement officer was looking at Scorpius. It reminded Albus of the way one would scowl after having stepped in dog poo, and it also reminded him that people outside of Hogwarts were still prejudiced against the _Death's Eyes_. "I don't remember apparating without knowing where you're going and firing spells at the first people you meet being a part of the standard M.L.E. protocol."

"Most likely she was using a trace," Scorpius said quietly, squeezing Albus's hand that he still held and pressing closer. "A rather dangerous and bold move, taking into account that she could have ended up anywhere or in a trap."

The woman appeared shocked, as if she hadn't expected a student to have knowledge on traces, but then flushed in embarrassment and demanded, "Did you see who arrived before me? Where did they go?"

"We didn't see anyone," Albus answered flatly, pointedly eyeing the woman's raised wand, angry that she had not yet lowered it. He refused to lower his wand until she lowered hers, especially since Scorpius was currently wandless, with right hand in Albus's left and the other arm holding the potion shop's paper bag protectively against his chest.

"That's impossible!" the woman argued, "They were ahead of me by seconds!"

"Apparating under a trace delays time. The spell must first connect to the already made trail and locate the destination before the apparition can be made. The farther the distance, the longer the delay," Scorpius explained. "What felt like seconds to you could have been up to several minutes. Your body would have been suspended in–"

"I know all that!" the woman barked.

"Then you shouldn't call it impossible or be surprised that we didn't see anyone," Albus growled back.

She narrowed her eyes, her face flushing even more, and ground out, "Listen, _child_, I don't have time for this. You and your brainy little _boyfriend_ need to get back to the safety of Hogwarts. Tell anyone you see along the way to do the same. Now get out of here!"

Albus opened his mouth for a sarcastic reply, but Scorpius suddenly let go of his left hand, snatched the wand out of his right, grabbed his shoulder with the paper bag bearing arm, and drew them both back down to the ground, all so quickly Albus didn't even have time to blink or register the sharp _crack!_s or the curses flying around them. Albus's head spun as he tried to comprehend what Scorpius had just done and why, but then he heard a groan and looked up to see the M.L.E. officer crumble to the ground. It was then that he realized they were surrounded by at least five men, all with their wands now pointed at him and Scorpius.

"Jus' some brats!" one of the men said. "What should we do with 'em?"

"Drop your wands," another commanded, coming up to loom over Albus and Scorpius ominously. "_Now_."

"We don't have them," Scorpius said in a small-sounding voice. "She spelled them off of us. We don't know where they are…"

Albus, of course, knew Scorpius was faking the timidity and kept his expression calm and eyes firmly on the man in front of them so as to not give away the lie.

"Get to your feet! Hands where I can see 'em!" the man growled. He snatched the paper bag out of Scorpius's hands as soon as they were standing and tossed it to another, ordering, "Check them! Get her wand, too!"

Albus shot a sidelong look at Scorpius, panicking when a grubby-looking man started checking the blonde's robes for the wands that Albus knew were there. To his shock, however, the man turned to face the one giving orders with shrug, muttering, "Nothin'. Bitch musta nicked 'em like he said."

The man in charge nodded to show that he'd heard, but he was looking at Scorpius suspiciously. "What's wrong with your eyes, kid? Ain't got no pupils. You blind or somethin'?"

Scorpius mutely shook his head, dropping his gaze to the ground shyly. Albus figured it was an act, but it still made him want to hex off the man's face, though his resentment towards the man was almost matched by his curiosity of what Scorpius had done with their wands.

"What do we do with 'em," the first guy repeated, just as another crack of apparition sounded.

"Anyone see us?" the main man asked.

"Nah, it's too empty on this side a town. Nobody comes here," the newcomer answered.

"Then let's get outta here. Grab her." The man motioned to the unconscious officer on the ground and then pointed at Albus and Scorpius. "Grab them, too. M.L.E. will be more inclined to nuhgotiate if we've got more hostages than jus' that stupid rookie."

Albus glowered at the man, but a wand pressed against his back and he only had time to sense a quick ache before darkness enveloped his vision.

-o-o-

Albus awoke with a hiss of pain, arching forward as much as he could to take pressure off of his back, mostly likely burned where the spell had hit him at close range.

"Stop whining," said a nasally voice and he felt something coarse wrap around his wrists, binding them tightly together behind him. He made to twist to see the man spelling him to the chair, but another sharp pain in his back stopped him and the man laughed at his wince. "Now ya know better, eh?"

Clenching his teeth to keep from smarting off, Albus searched the part of the room he could see. It was apparently a bedroom, dark, dingy, and falling apart, with holes in the walls being barely covered by slats of wood and the warm spring wind blowing in the smell of blooming flowers. A pained moan to Albus's left caught his attention and he saw the M.L.E. officer slumped in another chair, only kept from sliding to the floor by her own bound hands. Next to her was Scorpius, who smiled faintly at him when their eyes met.

Albus breathed a sigh of relief and smiled reassuringly back, until he received a heavy smack to the back of his head.

"Stop makin' eyes," the nasally-voiced man snorted, and then moved to flop down onto the room's creaky, rusted bed. He grinned a yellow, crooked toothed grin when he caught Albus glaring and folded his arms behind his head to lounge. "Too bad fur you looks can't kill, eh? Get ya far, wouldn't it? If ya be a good lil' prefecty maybe you'll get home to yur mum and dad."

"Do you even know who my dad is?" Albus asked, annoyed.

The man barked out a laugh. "Some high up official, 'spose, well-bred pretty boy like you. But that won' do ya any good here."

"A high up official? I guess you could say that," Albus said cockily, all self-conscious worries about using his father's name momentarily ignored. "He _is_ the Head Auror. You know –_ Harry Potter_. Relatively unheard of, but a decent wizard in his own right."

The man shot up from his reclining position, an interested frown look overcoming his grin but he narrowed his eyes on Albus as though weighing the truth of the words. After a long stare, he finally gruffed out, "Yur makin' that up," but continued to eye Albus curiously.

"Because I don't look just like him or anything," Albus scoffed, rolling his eyes. He drew in a breath to add another scathing comment but caught Scorpius's piercing stare out of the corner of his eye. The expression on Scorpius's face was serious and firm and the Slytherin gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head when their eyes met.

When Albus jerked back to the grungy man, he found that he was being eyed hungrily, a greedy sneer growing on the man's face.

"Ya do look like Pottar," the man said. He hopped up from his position on the bed, chuckling to himself, and made for the only door. "Oughtta pass that lil' bit a knowledge on…" He paused at the door, tilting his head back to give Albus a dark grin. "Yuh'll wait, wontcha pretty boy? I'll be righ' back."

As soon as the door closed behind the man, Scorpius whispered softly, "That was ill-planned, Albus. These are not good criminals. Now they know that you are Harry Potter's son and they _will_ try to hurt you."

"_Good_ criminals?" Albus asked, trying to keep his voice down but it made him sound harsher than he intended. "I don't think that _any_ criminal is _good_."

"To be an Auror, you need to learn the difference between people who are bad, people who do bad things, and where those two groups meet in the middle. By understanding this difference, you will know how to treat every situation," Scorpius chided gently.

Albus wasn't entirely sure what Scorpius meant, but knew that Scorpius wasn't one to scold without reason. The Slytherin also had a lot more experience with "bad people" who did "bad things" so listening to the advice was probably in Albus's favor. He swallowed his pride with a nod and turned his attention to their current situation. "We need to get out of here, then."

"There are barrier charms on this room, but I can get through them," Scorpius said with a small smirk. "His magic is strong, but completely obvious. It won't take me but a moment."

"Take you but a moment? He tied us to the chairs! How are you– right, right," Albus rolled his eyes at himself as Scorpius held up freed hands, "You de-magicked the spells. How did I not see that coming?" If he hadn't felt foolish before, he certainly did now. "How long have you been free?"

"Oh, not long. Like I said, his magic is strong so it took a bit more unwinding," Scorpius hummed and moved behind Albus, pulling his wand from his sleeve, while the Gryffindor pondered what he meant by "obvious" magic and "unwinding," as well as where he had hid his wand.

A moment later Albus felt the rough, spelled rope disappear from around his wrists and then a relaxing coolness settle over the burn on his back. He sighed in relief, but glanced back at Scorpius curiously. Though not really expecting an answer – Scorpius rarely explained any unusual magic to him – he asked, "Your wand, where did you hide it?"

Scorpius smiled and took one of Albus's hands in his own, drawing it into his sleeve. Albus cocked an eyebrow but then Scorpius pressed their hands against a small tear in the inner layer of fabric of his sleeve a few centimeters from the opening. Albus dipped his fingers into the tear and was shocked when he felt the tip of his own wand within the tear. Wrapping his fingers around it, he drew it out and looked between it and Scorpius's sleeve in wonder.

"You… You have a…"

"An expanding charm, yes. It is quite handy."

"Wouldn't that be really difficult on something loose like fabric?" Albus asked, bewildered. "I mean, wouldn't you have to cast it all the time, too? That would take a lot of magic almost every day…"

"Yes, it does," Scorpius agreed, "but I have been using it since second year, so I am familiar and comfortable with the spell."

"Since _second year?_" Albus marveled. He stuttered for a breath before choking out, "_Merlin_, you're _amazing,_ Scorpius!"

Scorpius smiled wider but looked away a bit shyly. "Only sometimes…"

"No, not just sometimes," Albus corrected, but before he could express his deepened but already-intense respect for the other wizard he was hit by another one of his bouts of dizziness. He grabbed onto the chair for support and the room swam in a haze, but then, slowly, his eyesight began to focus once more.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius said softly, hand brushing across his cheek, "but we really have to go. Are you okay?"

"Mm fine," Albus murmured, swallowing back some nausea and confused as to why Scorpius was apologizing.

Scorpius tenderly pushed the hair out of his eyes. "Can you help the officer while I de-magic the barriers?"

Albus nodded and Scorpius gave him another affectionate pat before moving to the door to feel out the magic confining them. Albus took a deep breath to help clear his head and then eased over to the M.L.E. officer, studying the binding charm. It looked to be a simple spell and he made quick work of removing it, having to leap to catch the limp officer as she fell forward once she was freed. The jolting movement made his eyes water from another wave of nausea, but he managed to keep his lunch down as Scorpius appeared at his side again, rubbing his back soothingly and helping him hold the dead weight of the unconscious woman.

"We should be able to apparate," Scorpius informed him. "Are you feeling up to it?"

"Yeah," Albus answered, but his stomach turned at the idea. He gestured to the officer. "What about her?"

"Side-along, I'll take her," Scorpius said simply, hand clasping her shoulder. "We are not far from Hogsmeade, so should we apparate to the main street, outside of The Three Broomsticks?"

Albus vaguely wondered how Scorpius knew where they were, but answered, "Sounds good to me."

Scorpius reached over to squeeze his hand encouragingly and he grinned shakily back. Then, each turning on the spot with two sharp _crack!_s, they disappeared.

-o-o-o-o-

Filler chapter is filler.

Scorpius's POV to be posted soon!


	4. Last of the Last Scorpius

I, ahem, did not edit my work, so many grammatical mistakes, I'm sure, and probably some confusing parts that could be better explained… I'll probably edit & replace this chapter at some point, haha.

After this, one more chapter!

Please take my shoddy magic-science with a grain of salt. =D

-o-o-o-o-

_"Did you know that our son thinks he can see magic?"_

Magic can, essentially, be attributed to one factor: _speed_. Not the caster's dexterity for this factor, but magic itself is speed. Very few wizards truly understand magic in the sense of its origination. The accepted idea is that magic, called upon by the various spells, "just appears." This belief, naturally, has no bearing and, when truly considered, is absolutely ludicrous. Ironically, those without magic have the ability to comprehend the origin of magic _better_ than the very kind that uses the magic, for _muggles_ already understand a most basic concept:

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

_"Every wizard can see magic, Astoria. Why shouldn't he be able to?"_

Muggles, however, remain oblivious to existence of magic and thus the wizarding kind remains ignorant of the energy it wields.

_"I'm not insulting his eyes, Draco. He thinks he can… _see_ magic."_

_"You're not making any sense."_

Energy exists in all living things. When a spell is cast, energy is drawn from the caster's surroundings and that energy is channeled through the caster's body which acts as the matrix, the conductor, to chemically change the energy into the desired spell. The stronger the spell, the more energy needed.

In the beginning, all magic was "wandless."

_"He told me that he can see the… 'flow' of magic, that when I cast a spell he can see where the magic came from before I used it and where it ends up after I finish."_

However, "wandless" magic requires that the final stop for the energy to combine be the caster's body. If the caster is not skilled enough to control the energy, the leaving energy has the potential to be damaging to its conductor, even to the point of killing the caster. Therefore, in the beginning, only the exceptionally talented had the right to study magic, to learn the spells, and to use the power that magic offered. All others carefully manipulated their magic for every day, simple tasks.

_"He's a _child_, Astoria. He may be mature for his age, but even he will have the occasional whimsical fantasy."_

_"You don't understand! It's not… He's not… Something is _wrong_ with him, Draco!"_

The creation of wands changed the flow of energy. Wands, typically, are constructed from non-living things – dead wood from various trees, hair from various creatures, feathers, nail clippings, tears, etc. The non-living extension of the caster's body allowed even the weakest wizard to have a semblance of control over magic. Not even wandmakers understand that the reason "the wand picks the wizard" is that the components in the wand have to match the strength of _presence_ of the caster, for every human born is born with a different energy signature.

The difference between muggles and magicals is simply genetic: is the body capable of conductivity or not? All humans were once magical, with the magical gene being recessive. Hence, "muggle-borns" are merely throw-backs to their magical ancestors, the product of two recessive-bearing parents, and "squibs" are born with the mutated and dominant non-magical gene. Logically, "squibs" are the origin of muggles.

_"How can you say that? About your own son?"_

_"You're not listening to me! I love Scorpius! He's my precious baby boy, but he's... he's not normal, not _right_."_

If the progression of energy from its surroundings to the change it undergoes and its eventual burst from the tip of a wand were obvious – were _slow_ – then every wizard and muggle alike could and would truly _see_ magic, but magic is _speed_. The movement of energy is _so fast _that it seems instantaneous, as though it "just appears."

_"He's not even ten and he can already do speechless magic! And with spells that even I cannot perform!"_

_"Our son is a prodigy and that bothers you?"_

_"No! It's not… I just… I'm… I find myself… _afraid_ of him at times, of what he… of what he can _do_…"_

Theoretically, if one were to understand the path that energy takes to become magic and could focus on that path, then one would have the capability of "seeing" the magic by "sensing" it as though it were a solid object – in essence, the sixth sense, the one that allows for the sensing of _presence_.

_"Afraid of him? He's barely nine years old, for Merlin's sake!"_

_"…Don't you think that… that even… _You-Know-Who_'s mother knew something was wrong with her child? That she worried when she saw him… use magic to such a degree?"_

_"Are you mad? How could you compare our Scorpius – _Scorpius_!_ – _to that- that- _freak_? How can you say that you love him and then say that?"_

_"I do love him! I do! I love him, but… but…"_

That is, of course, just theory.

_"But will love be enough?"_

-o-o-o-o-

A concealment charm.

Scorpius recognized it instantly – lightly vibrating but not tingly, warm but barely so – and it entwined with the gentle breath of _wingardium leviosa_. Concealments were one of his specialties; he could detect a concealment even with a physical wall between him and the spell. Having been shoved into many a dungeon or makeshift jail, concealments were among the first incantations he had studied, along with restriction spells, defensive spells, healing spells, and apparition, the last being the most difficult to detect as the energy it drew was not from the destination but rather the starting point.

Closing his eyes, Scorpius could, by feeling out the spell, see the white string of energy connecting the floating, folded piece of parchment – invisible to the naked eye – to the discreetly moving wand tip at a nearby table. He dropped his focus on the magical energy and instead concentrated on the living energy signature of the caster.

_Ethan Evans. Ravenclaw prefect, sixth year._

Scorpius opened his eyes and continued to read the book in front of him – or, rather, pretended to. Why was Ethan Evans of all people secretively slipping him a note in the library? He rarely spoke to the younger student outside of prefect meetings and the impression he had of Evans was not one of a timid personality. He much more expected Evans to simply walk up to his table and start a discussion with an arrogance that demanded he participate whether he wanted to or not. Honestly, that pompous attitude made tolerating the boy a bit difficult, especially since that pomposity was often used in accosting Scorpius's favorite Gryffindor.

Well.

A certain Head Boy happened to know that a certain Ravenclaw prefect barely managed an Acceptable in the Charms O.W.L.

Closing his book, Scorpius began to gather up his various scrolls and quills, nearly laughing out loud when he felt the surge of panic shake through the two charms being used on the small parchment. It was almost to his book bag so Scorpius pulled the bag a little closer to himself under the guise of sliding in books, and this time he had to look away to hide his smile at the quiet, irritated grunt that issued from the Ravenclaw table next to his.

He teased Evans a bit longer – moving the bag a couple more times and fumbling around with it to prevent an opening for the parchment to sneak inside – before he finally took pity on the sixth year and allowed the note to be passed to him before leaving. At the library doors, Scorpius discreetly glanced back to see that Evans was exuding his usual apathy toward the other students, although the light gleam of sweat on his brow belied the effort he must have exerted in order to use the two charms without being noticed.

Without being noticed by everyone except the receiver, of course.

Scorpius pulled the note from his bag once he was free of the library, still feeling the hum of magic that slowly scattered from the parchment and back to the environment.

_"S. Malfoy,_

_As neither of us have previous engagements, meet me behind the greenhouses at 7:00 PM tonight._

_E.E."_

Scorpius blinked at the message and then slipped into an empty classroom so that he could laugh unobserved.

Ethan Evans? _Ethan Evans _was asking him down to the willows? And through a note no less. How unexpected and shy of the Ravenclaw. Apparently, even twits like Evans had their cute moments.

But cute or not, Scorpius didn't feel particularly inclined to comply with the "request." Ignoring it was, of course, completely impolite and therefore unacceptable, despite how unbearable the event could potentially be.

_"You will catch more bees with honey than with vinegar,"_ his grandmother had once told him.

_Ethan Evans isn't exactly a bee I want to catch, _Scorpius thought with amusement, laughter finally subsiding into the occasional quiet chuckle. He fell back to lean against the wall as he read the short note again and considered how to handle the situation. Evans was hardly the first person to fawn after him, but Scorpius doubted that his usual, gentle rejection would sufficiently deal with the conceited Ravenclaw. No, he'd need to leave a negative enough imprint in Evans's thoughts, something that would stick with the boy even if the memory of where it came from was erased…

Smiling slowly, mind forming a plot, Scorpius folded the small parchment into a bird before walking to the nearest window and tossing it outside, setting a timed charm upon it so that it would fly to his desired recipient at the appropriate moment.

-o-o-

After dinner that evening, Scorpius casually made his way toward the greenhouses. Ethan Evans would expect him early, which was precisely why Scorpius walked leisurely, fully intending to arrive just as the clock struck the hour. It would infuriate the Ravenclaw to no end, but a ruffled Evans would aid rather than hinder Scorpius's plans for the evening.

Plus, ticking off Evans always proved to be entertaining.

Though it was late spring, the air outside still cooled with the setting sun. Not cold enough for a warming charm, but enough that Scorpius wrapped his arms around himself to lessen the chill. As he walked, his mind wandered to the potions he expected to finish before the year ended. One required the stamen of a fire lily soon; he could detour through the greenhouses on his way back to the castle to cut one. Professor Longbottom wouldn't mind (or notice).

The thick branches of the willow trees swayed in the light evening wind and Scorpius pushed them aside like a curtain. Within, he saw the tall figure of Ethan Evans leaning against a tree trunk, arms folded impatiently in wait. Scorpius slipped through the last of the branches as he heard the clock tower boom from the other side of Hogwarts and met Evans's disapproving frown with his patented polite smile.

"You're late," Evans said flatly.

"Only in comparison," Scorpius answered lightly.

Evans snorted at this but did not move from his position at the tree. He was nervous; Scorpius could feel his magic wavering with uncertainty. "Well?"

"Well what?" Scorpius asked innocently, feigning ignorance. It was obvious that Evans was trying to hide his anxiety with the arrogance-façade, but if he wanted a real answer then he needed to ask a real question.

"You _know_ what," Evans scoffed, his expression sharpening. He finally pushed away from the tree and stepped toward Scorpius, chin raised as he looked down at the other haughtily. "There's only one reason I would ask you here. What's your answer?"

_Does anyone answer favorably to you, with an attitude like that?_ Scorpius wanted to ask, mildly amazed by the sixth year's conceit. He was gazing at Evans thoughtfully, weighing possible neutral responses in his mind, when he felt the slight tingle of someone entering his radius of awareness – someone whose energy presence he knew quite well. Scorpius turned a fraction toward that presence, the warmth of it getting stronger as the other got closer.

_Albus…_

"Malfoy?" Evans took another small step toward Scorpius, his confidence clearly faltering at the prolonged silence.

Scorpius studied at the boy's prideful but earnest expression and felt a twinge of guilt.

_What an awful person I am, using his affections like this._

"Ah, my apologies, I…" Scorpius drifted off, again distracted, this time by the feeling of Albus stopping just beyond the willows. Albus's energy felt hesitant, indecisive. _Because it's Ethan Evans?_ Scorpius wondered, curious (and a tad worried), but a second later Albus's resolve was strengthening, and Scorpius tried to focus on his reply. "I'm afraid that a relationship between us would be ill-advised…"

It was Evans who wasn't paying attention now, head jerking sharply in Albus's direction – or, rather, in the direction of the noises of "someone" coming toward them – and after a brief moment Albus appeared in the curtain of thick branches. Once free, he trotted to Scorpius's side, glaring at Evans defensively.

"What do you think you're doing, Evans?"

Evans was tensing, and Scorpius knew that if he focused on the sixth year now he could see the boy's energy flaring with anger, but he was too delighted by Albus having come for him to feel guilty for his manipulative actions. It was wrong, yes, to constantly test the Gryffindor and to use someone else to do so, but, sometimes, Scorpius liked being reassured.

"Interesting, how _he_ knew we were here," Evans was saying, his tone calm but cold.

"I, too, drop things on occasion," Scorpius offered quietly. He managed to not smile but, judging by the telling smirk on Albus's face, he hadn't managed to keep the amusement from his voice.

"Is that so?"

Scorpius didn't have to focus now – just a light probe of magic and he could see easily see the fluctuations in Evans's bursting energy. Powerful, but nowhere near the strong vibration of the Gryffindor next to him.

The Ravenclaw's scowl shifted from him to Albus, speaking to the intruder at last, "This is supposed to be a private meeting, _Potter_, one that you were _not_ invited to. _Leave_."

"_No_," Albus refused, and Scorpius smiled at the protective stance Albus took between him and Evans. "You have a lot of nerve calling Scorpius out here."

"I believe I have an adequate amount of _nerve_," Evans countered coldly. "What's appalling is that you think you have the right to interrupt. Surely you haven't deluded yourself so far as to honestly _believe_ the imaginary relationship you so pathetically perpetuate? It's disgusting the way you prance about trying to get Malfoy's attention when it's clear that he only _tolerates_ your behavior because he has the sense of propriety that you _lack._"

_Ouch._ Evans certainly knew where the weak spot in Albus's armor was, the sharp words causing the Gryffindor's confidence to plummet drastically. A quick movement caught Scorpius's eye and he swiftly grabbed Albus's wrist to stop the wand from being drawn, smiling soothingly at the Gryffindor's questioning glance. As wonderful as it was that Albus had come for him, he didn't want either of the prefects ending up in the hospital wing over this, especially since he had manipulated them both.

_I am a horrible person,_ he thought with a grim smile.

"There's no harm in letting people think what they want to, whether it's true or not. I _am_ Scorpius's _friend_, and I'm not going to let a ponce like you try to take advantage of his kindness," Albus snapped at Evans before Scorpius could stop him.

"How _dare_–"

"That's enough," Scorpius interjected softly, and two pairs of eyes snapped to him. He moved between them, amused by how quickly both of their energies calmed. "I've seen what I came here to see."

Evans's eyed Scorpius suspiciously before his mouth dropped slightly in shock.

_Oh, he knows_.

"You–!"

"Albus," Scorpius interrupted again, and a glance at Evans showed the Ravenclaw to be glowering at him. Ignoring this for the moment, Scorpius gently pushed Albus back toward the willows, encouraging, "Wait for me in the East greenhouse? I'll only be a minute."

Albus glanced at Evans's expression and hesitated. "Are you sure? I just got here and I came to get you…"

Even though this was something Scorpius was already aware of, he felt warmed by hearing it directly.

"Mm-hm, I know."

Albus hesitated only a bit more, shooting several threatening looks at the scowling Evans before finally disappearing back through the willow branches. Scorpius and Evans watched him go quietly, waiting until they couldn't hear Albus's clomping steps anymore before facing one another once more.

Evans was silent at first, expression darkening but energy becoming more controlled as he studied Scorpius. When he finally spoke, his tone was very clipped and business-like. "I am neither fool nor tool, Malfoy. In the future, I would rather that you didn't use me for your attempts at personal gain, especially where Potter is concerned. I feel that I am much more worthy of affections than _him_, but after this _atrocious_ display of _deceit_, I have no wish to pursue my original intent."

"My apologies for the awkward situation in which I placed you, but asking me to not use you for my personal gain is asking me to go against my very Slytherin nature," Scorpius replied, tone neutral. "However, if there is something I can do to help assuage your anger, please let me know."

A pause. Then, "As a matter of fact, there is." Evans's smirk returned, this time with real snobbery behind it. "I'd quite like a kiss."

_A bit vengeful, then._ Scorpius smiled thinly. "Of _course_."

Scorpius stepped forward, brushing Evans's cheek with the backs of his fingers as he tipped up for the kiss, but at a hair's breath away he whispered instead, "_Obliviate_," and the magic surged from his fingers into Evans.

Evans's eyes glazed over and the Ravenclaw stumbled backwards into the tree he'd been leaning against when Scorpius had first arrived that evening. Evans trembled for a moment, looking incredibly dizzy, but then his eyes slowly started to clear and he blinked at Scorpius standing just inside the willow branches. With a frown he glanced at his watch, and the frown deepened. "You're _late_."

"Yes, quite," Scorpius hummed. "There were, ah, _issues_."

Evans seemed to accept the excuse and demanded, "Well?"

Scorpius concentrated on Evans's energy. Despite that the boy had no mental memory of the minutes before, his life energy still thrummed with resentment and loathing – a negative enough imprint. Scorpius smirked. "My sincerest apologies, Prefect Evans. I am afraid that I cannot return your affections."

With a scoff, Evans pushed away from the tree and began to leave, again haughtily looking down his nose at Scorpius, this time without the apprehension, and said over his shoulder, "_Affections_ is not the proper word, Malfoy. I merely thought it might be an intelligent gain for us both."

"My mistake," Scorpius answered quietly, inwardly smirking at his success.

He waited until Evans was several meters away before leaving the willows in favor of the eastern most greenhouse. He still felt a bit guilty about messing with Evans's thoughts and emotions, wondering about his own cruel, scheming self, and sighed as he pushed open the greenhouse door. Albus was sitting just inside on an overturned bucket and his face lit up as soon as their eyes met.

"That _was_ quick. No more Evans, then?" Albus asked, obviously trying to be confident but still sounding anxious.

"No more Evans," Scorpius assured, and the smile that bloomed on the Gryffindor's face was so full of warmth and happiness and affection that Scorpius was engulfed by its energy.

Impulsively, as if he had no control over his own body, Scorpius surged forward and kissed that smile. Albus at first jolted and froze in shock, but he promptly awoke and wrapped his arms around Scorpius, pulling Scorpius down onto his lap and pressing roughly into the kiss. The possessive energy flowing off of Albus made Scorpius's body tingle down to his toes, and he gasped when Albus broke the demanding kiss only to trail quick pecks and nips against his cheek and neck, his hands clenching into the fabric of Albus's robes. Then Albus was kissing his lips again, hugging him tighter, and Scorpius felt his mind start to cloud and close off as Albus's powerful emotions rolled over him in waves.

"Scorpius… This is… I… You… _I love you_," Albus gasped huskily, but it cut through the haze like a steel blade.

Scorpius immediately tensed.

_Stop! Stop! Stop! What are you doing? Not again! Not again!_ a voiced shrieked in his head, and Scorpius realized that the voice had been yelling the entire time and he just hadn't heard it.

"_Stupefy!_" Scorpius choked out hastily, shoving away from Albus and landing on the ground as the stunning spell sealed off Albus's forceful energy.

Breathing harshly, Scorpius closed his eyes and concentrated on calming his nerves. He swallowed a few times, regaining his composure, and then carefully got to his feet, dusting off his robes with shaky hands. A few more controlled, rhythmic breaths and the last of the tingles disappeared and the wild instability in his own magical energy subsided into its usual soft hum, and he finally turned to Albus.

_What were you thinking? You know better than this!_ Scorpius chided himself, flinching at the frozen expression of surprise on Albus's face.

How many times had this happened now? It was getting a bit too frequent as of late. Why couldn't he control himself?

Scorpius sighed.

_There's something _wrong_ with me._

This had to stop. He _knew_ Albus deserved better, deserved someone normal and _right_, and yet he kept repeating this same vicious cycle. It was just that… it felt nice to know that Albus wanted him – had wanted to be friends and now simply _wanted_ him – and when those emotional waves hit him, they completely disrupted his tranquil flow of energy, flooding him till he knew nothing but Albus.

_But you've tricked him into wanting you_, Scorpius's conscience scolded. _You've manipulated every action so that all he sees is you. Would he want you otherwise?_

_"They're not creepy! Um, I don't think they're like Death's, you know? Your eyes, I mean. They're kinda, um, different, but they're not creepy. I… I like them."_

Scorpius smiled sadly at the memory and reached out to brush a hand tenderly against Albus's cheek. How he loved this man – the first person aside from his father to accept him – but that didn't justify binding Albus to him. If he truly wanted Albus to be happy, then he needed to stop and let Albus make choices without being coerced.

_I want to be happy with him,_ Scorpius thought, smile dropping away.

_You're selfish!_ his mind hissed. _He'd be _afraid_ if he knew the true you! If he knew what you could do!_

"Enough of this," Scorpius murmured, shaking his head free of the internal argument. Now was not the time to act like a loon and argue with himself. His insanity could be dealt with at a later date. After another deep, relaxing breath, he pressed first a soft kiss and then the tips of his fingers to Albus's temple.

_Rennervate_.

Albus gasped as he instantly awoke, but Scorpius didn't give him a chance to wonder what had happened before reciting the next spell.

_Obliviate._

Now Albus's eyes watered as they lost focus and Scorpius felt sick with himself. Poor Albus. It was amazing that, after all the times Scorpius had snogged and then obliviated him, he didn't have some sort of brain damage.

_I'll slip him a pepper-up later_.

"Your low blood pressure again?" Scorpius asked with concern when Albus's eyes finally cleared. It was the excuse he'd made responsible for Albus's bewilderment after repeated uses of the memory spell.

"I guess that's what it was…" Albus answered with an awkward chuckle, and Scorpius couldn't help but smile at the mild confusion on his face.

One day, maybe he'd let Albus remember kissing him.

-o-o-o-o-

Scorpius hated apparition.

Though he kept his expression calm as Albus snapped at the Magical Law Enforcement witch, he really wanted to roll his eyes and scowl and stomp his feet like a child. Unlike other spells, apparition was only detectable the tiniest fraction of a second before a witch or wizard appeared. Normally, the moment a magical drew his or her wand or mentally prepared for spells, Scorpius would notice an immediate flux change in the environment's energy, even if a spell had yet to be cast. With apparition, however, Scorpius could only sense the apparition in the millisecond that the starting point's energy connected to the destination's energy – and that was _only_ if he was expecting it.

And he was on his guard now, in case more M.L.E. personnel arrived; he wasn't going to be caught unaware twice in a row. He'd barely managed to keep Albus safe when the fool woman – clearly a recruit – had started casting the moment she landed.

"Most likely she was using a trace," Scorpius said quietly, joining Albus's criticism. The look the woman was giving him was familiar, a disgusted one he'd seen on many a face, and he squeezed Albus's hand that he still held, finding comfort in the Gryffindor's presence. "A rather dangerous and bold move, taking into account that she could have ended up anywhere or in a trap."

The woman appeared shocked, as if she hadn't expected a student to have knowledge on traces, but then flushed in embarrassment and demanded, "Did you see who arrived before me? Where did they go?"

_Arrived before…?_

"We didn't see anyone," Albus said as Scorpius quickly focused on the energy signatures in their immediate vicinity. Sure enough, there were the tell-tale signs that multiple people had recently apparated to their location – faded and almost completely dissipated back into the surrounding area, but still there.

"That's impossible!" the woman argued, "They were ahead of me by seconds!"

"Apparating under a trace delays time. The spell must first connect to the already made trail and locate the destination before the apparition can be made. The farther the distance, the longer the delay," Scorpius explained out of habit, though his mind was far from focused on the fool woman and instead on the details she had already given them. She was a part of M.L.E., had followed a group to this area, and was awfully jumpy…

Scorpius strengthened his feel for incoming apparitions and spells as he mindlessly kept speaking, "What felt like seconds to you could have been up to several minutes. Your body would have been suspended in–"

"I know all that!" the woman barked.

"Then you shouldn't call it impossible or be surprised that we didn't see anyone," Albus growled back.

The tingle of a miniscule change in the environment's energy tickled Scorpius's perception.

"Listen, _child_," the M.L.E. witch snapped, "I don't have time for this. You and your brainy little _boyfriend_ need to get back to the safety of Hogwarts. Tell anyone you see along the way to do the same. Now get out of here!"

A sharp snap of energy as the incoming magic attached to energy in their location.

_They're coming!_

As the wizards appeared around them, Scorpius dragged Albus to the ground, stealing the Gryffindor's wand as he did and tucking it into his sleeve where he kept a small tear with an expanding charm. Albus looked dazed by the unexpected action, but Scorpius was more worried about the curses flying around their heads and focused on building energy around them so that any spells that came too close would be, mostly, canceled out by the opposite energy flow. Belatedly, Scorpius remembered the M.L.E. officer but she was already unconscious on the ground a few feet away, and five men encircled him and Albus, wands raised.

"Jus' some brats!" one of the men said. "What should we do with 'em?"

Another stepped up to loom over Albus and Scorpius with commanding authority. If the obvious distance between his energy strength and those of the others was anything to go by, then he had to be the one in charge. "Drop your wands. _Now_."

"We don't have them," Scorpius lied quickly, trying to sound meek. "She spelled them off of us. We don't know where they are…"

Albus's energy twitched at the lie but he otherwise remained motionless at Scorpius's side.

"Get to your feet! Hands where I can see 'em!" the leader growled and snatched the paper bag out of Scorpius's hands as soon as they were standing. He tossed it to another, ordering, "Check them! Get her wand, too!"

Scorpius discreetly eyed the group of men as he and Albus were searched and considered their options for escaping under the circumstances. It would be easy for him to apparate them to safety before the men could stop him, but that meant leaving the M.L.E. witch behind and while Scorpius felt no moral obligation toward the woman he knew Albus would. The Gryffindor was exceptionally open-hearted.

Another option was simply stunning and binding the entire group, but then he'd have to show Albus the true nature of his abilities, not to mention M.L.E. was involved and would definitely want some answers as to how he managed to take down five adult, possibly-dark wizards.

If there was one thing Scorpius had learned in his ninth year of living, it was that he didn't want people knowing what he could do.

Forget "people." He wouldn't be able to bear the fear in _Albus's_ eyes.

"What's wrong with your eyes, kid?" the leader asked, catching Scorpius's attention. "Ain't got no pupils. You blind or somethin'?"

Scorpius mutely shook his head, dropping his gaze to the ground as he touched upon the man's living energy. Strong. Dark. Violent. This man was dangerous. Right now, the best plan of action was to play obedient and wait. An opportunity to escape would arise sooner or later, preferably at a time when the leader was not present.

There was another snap of connecting energy and then someone else apparated to the group.

"Anyone see us?" the main man asked.

"Nah, it's too empty on this side a town. Nobody comes here," the newcomer answered.

"Then let's get outta here. Grab her." The man motioned to the unconscious officer on the ground and then pointed at Albus and Scorpius. "Grab them, too. M.L.E. will be more inclined to nuhgotiate if we've got more hostages than jus' that stupid rookie."

Energy flowed from the environment as a wand pressed against Scorpius's back. He quickly concentrated his own energy in the same spot, just as the spell burned against him. It was the stunning spell, and Scorpius felt his body tremble from the force of it, only half of it being canceled by the opposite energy flow he'd gathered. However, the other half was enough to affect him and he slipped gently into oblivion.

-o-o-

Naturally, he was the first to wake, with his senses slowly coming back to him as sounds, smells, and lights tickled against him. He eased himself into consciousness but kept his eyes closed, casually sending out feeler-waves of energy to see what they met. The waves struck against walls of magic – barrier spells – and the living energy presences of three others, as well as small spells in various spots throughout the room. Opening his eyes, Scorpius adjusted to the dimness of the room, the sunlight seeping in through holes in the wooden walls not providing much. To his left was the M.L.E. witch, slumped in the chair she was bound to, and to his right was Albus, also slumped but being bound to his chair by a short, thin man with scraggly hair.

Carefully, Scorpius collected magic around his hands, feeling out the spell that bound him. It was a typical magic-rope; he knew it well, having been kidnapped multiple times, but the thin man's magic was a bit strong. With some extra concentration, Scorpius forcefully unwound the magic until the rope disappeared, leaving his hands free. He twisted his left hand and fixed an illusion charm behind him so that he still appeared tied. With his right, he sent a wisp of a waking spell, barely detectable, to Albus.

Albus's eyes instantly began to flutter open and he hissed in pain, trying to pull away from the chair against his, no doubt, burned back.

"Stop whining," said the thin man as he finished the binding spell around Albus's hands. Albus attempted to turn, but was stopped by another wince of pain and the man laughed. "Now ya know better, eh?"

The M.L.E. officer was starting to wake on her own and her groan of pain drew Albus's drowsy attention to her and Scorpius. Albus sighed in relief when their eyes met and Scorpius gave him a small smile.

"Stop makin' eyes," the nasally-voiced man snorted, smacking Albus across the back of the head, and then moved to flop down onto the room's creaky, rusted bed. He grinned a yellow, crooked toothed grin when he caught Albus glaring and folded his arms behind his head to lounge. "Too bad fur you looks can't kill, eh? Get ya far, wouldn't it? If ya be a good lil' prefecty maybe you'll get home to yur mum and dad."

"Do you even know who my dad is?" Albus asked, clearly annoyed.

_No, Albus!_ Scorpius thought, biting his bottom lip and wishing Albus would look at him. _Don't say anything!_

There were degrees of corruption. Scorpius had been abducted by people amicable enough to play cards with him while in their captivity and treated him pretty decently for a hostage, but he had also been abducted by people who drew pleasure in beating him senseless, snapping his bones, and watching him bleed.

The ominous feeling he received from the leader of this mob indicated that they fell toward the darker end of the spectrum.

The thin man was laughing at Albus. "Some high up official, 'spose, well-bred pretty boy like you. But that won' do ya any good here."

"A high up official? I guess you could say that," Albus said cockily.

_Stop! No more, Albus!_

"He _is_ the Head Auror. You know –_ Harry Potter_. Relatively unheard of, but a decent wizard in his own right."

Scorpius winced as the man shot up from his reclining position, an interested frown look overcoming his grin but he narrowed his eyes on Albus as though weighing the truth of the words. After a long stare, he finally gruffed out, "Yur makin' that up," but continued to eye Albus curiously.

"Because I don't look just like him or anything," Albus scoffed, rolling his eyes. He drew in a breath to add another scathing comment but finally looked over to meet Scorpius's eyes and Scorpius gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head, trying to convey as much seriousness to Albus as possible.

But it was too late. A greedy sneer was growing on the man's face.

"Ya do look like Pottar," the man said. He hopped up from his position on the bed, chuckling to himself, and made for the only door. "Oughtta pass that lil' bit a knowledge on…" He paused at the door, tilting his head back to give Albus a dark grin. "Yuh'll wait, wontcha pretty boy? I'll be righ' back."

As soon as the door closed behind the man, Scorpius whispered softly, "That was ill-planned, Albus. These are not good criminals. Now they know that you are Harry Potter's son and they _will_ try to hurt you."

"_Good_ criminals? I don't think that _any_ criminal is _good_," Albus whispered back, sounding offended.

"To be an Auror, you need to learn the difference between people who are bad, people who do bad things, and where those two groups meet in the middle. By understanding this difference, you will know how to treat every situation," Scorpius chided gently. Albus may not have his experience or abilities, but it would be foolish to train for Aurorship and not know the differences between the Morgan le Fays and Voldemorts of the world.

Scorpius's father, for one, had done bad things but not because he was a bad person.

"We need to get out of here, then," Albus conceded, looking a bit ashamed.

"There are barrier charms on this room, but I can get through them. His magic is strong, but completely obvious. It won't take me but a moment," Scorpius said with a small smirk. It was true, too. The thin man's magic practically oozed all over the room. Not his fault, of course – some magicals just had naturally discreet magic while others did not.

"Take you but a moment? He tied us to the chairs! How are you– right, right," Albus rolled his eyes at himself as Scorpius held up freed hands, "You de-magicked the spells. How did I not see that coming? How long have you been free?"

"Oh, not long. Like I said, his magic is strong so it took a bit more unwinding," Scorpius hummed and moved behind Albus, pulling his wand from the tear in his sleeve.

Now that he had a good feel for the thin man's magic, he easily unwound the spells on Albus's hands and then moved to the burn, setting a cool healing charm between his friend's shoulder blades. Albus sighed in relief, but glanced back at Scorpius curiously, asking, "Your wand, where did you hide it?"

This answer Scorpius did not mind sharing and he took one of Albus's hands in his own, drawing it into his sleeve. Albus cocked an eyebrow but then Scorpius pressed their hands against a small tear in the inner layer of fabric of his sleeve a few centimeters from the opening. Albus jolted in shock and then withdrew his wand from the tear, looking between it and Scorpius's sleeve in wonder.

"You… You have a…"

"An expanding charm, yes. It is quite handy."

"Wouldn't that be really difficult on something loose like fabric?" Albus asked, bewildered. "I mean, wouldn't you have to cast it all the time, too? That would take a lot of magic almost every day…"

"Yes, it does, but I have been using it since second year so I am familiar and comfortable with the spell," Scorpius explained, and then mentally kicked himself for tacking on the last bit. Albus would be appalled to know that he was performing those spells at such a young age.

"Since _second year?_" As predicted, Albus was flabbergasted. He stuttered for a breath before choking out, "_Merlin_, you're _amazing,_ Scorpius!"

_Amazing? _Scorpius couldn't help but smile at the unexpected compliment, and he looked away from Albus's earnest eyes, feeling shy. "Only sometimes…"

"No, not just sometimes," Albus corrected, reaching out to take Scorpius's hands. "_All_ the time! You… You're incredible!" Then, softer, "Intelligent, powerful, kind… It's no wonder that I…"

Albus's affectionate energy and words were making Scorpius dizzy, and, even though Scorpius knew that it was only there because he had conned the Gryffindor into it, he cherished the love with which Albus's presence was enveloping him. Albus had lifted a hand to his face, brushing back his hair, and the touch felt like delightful sparks of warmth on Scorpius's skin. His own energy presence was becoming more and more instable and Scorpius knew that, if Albus didn't stop soon, there was going to be a repeat of what had happened in the greenhouse the previous night.

"It's no wonder that I love y–"

A pained groan interrupted Albus and dowsed Scorpius with cold energy. They jerked apart in surprise, each turning to the M.L.E. officer as she finally came to full consciousness. She shifted her head back and forth stiffly, as if gauging how injured she felt, and then looked at the two of them groggily. It seemed her mind cleared after a few blinks because she straightened and shot anxious glances around the room.

"What is this?" she demanded shrilly. "What have you done?"

Albus rushed to explain. "What? No! This isn't–"

While he was no longer falling dopily under Albus's loving presence, Scorpius still felt like all of his nerves were extra sensitive to the Gryffindor standing so close to him. He could barely focus on the energy of the M.L.E. officer, and therefore barely felt the three menacing energies that were already at the door to the room – something he normally would have recognized at a respectable distance. That he felt them at all was miracle enough, and as they burst through the door in response to the M.L.E. witch's alarmed shout, their sudden appearance an unmistakable danger to Albus, Scorpius panicked.

Before he could stop himself, Scorpius swung his arm wide, pulling a vast amount of energy from the room and shoving it toward the three men, not even bothering to attach a spell to the energy as the force of it alone was enough to slam them into the hallway wall and even destroy the barrier spell that trapped the room. All around him, Scorpius could feel energy vibrating with harsh twangs as it tried to restructure after the unanticipated burst and even his left arm screamed in pain, energy still sparking at his fingertips.

"You… What… How did you…" the M.L.E. officer murmured, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing in shock.

Scorpius glanced at her and she recoiled when their eyes met, her expression turning to one of fear.

"That's impossible! How could… _What_ _are you?_"

The terror in her eyes cut into Scorpius worse than any curse or blade and he cringed.

"S-Scorpius…?" Albus beckoned quietly, and Scorpius couldn't tell if he sounded worried or afraid.

_Both_, his mind supplied, _Afraid of what you can do. Worried about what you _did_ do. Now he knows._

_He knows._

_He knows._

_He knows!_

_There's something wrong with you! Not normal! Not right!_

_He can't know! Don't let him!_

Resignedly, his expression closing off his pain in favor of detachment, Scorpius straightened and flicked his fingers at the still fearfully babbling M.L.E. witch.

_Stupefy. Obliviate._

She again slumped in her chair, unconscious once more.

"Scorpius?" Albus repeated, sounding more shocked.

Scorpius waved his hand at the door to the room and it slammed shut, closing off the equally unconscious men in the hallway.

"Scorpius!" Albus said, and this time reached out to grab him. He knew Albus was staring at him, expecting an answer, but he didn't want to see the disgust that would no doubt be in those beloved green eyes and so kept his gaze on the floor as he shook his arm free, placed his hand flat against Albus's chest.

Albus managed another tentative, "Scorpius?" before Scorpius wiped his memory, too. Albus stumbled back, grabbing onto a chair for support, and looked as though he might throw up – a very reasonable possibility given that the memory charm had been used on him not twenty hours earlier and would be affecting him severely in such a small time frame.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius said quietly, painfully, feeling overwhelmed by guilt. He softly brushed a hand against Albus's cheek as Albus regained his bearings, mentally reciting a gentle healing spell to help ease the Gryffindor's nausea. He wanted to do more to help, but… "but we really have to go. Are you okay?"

"Mm fine," Albus murmured. Scorpius tenderly pushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Can you help the officer while I de-magic the barriers?"

At Albus's weak nod, Scorpius gave him another affectionate pat before moving to the closed door. The barrier was gone, of course, but Albus didn't know that – didn't remember it anymore. Instead, Scorpius focused on the three unconscious men beyond the room and set upon them a series of charms: first obliviate their memory of the incident; second, a righting spell so that they were standing on their feet rather that crumbled on the floor; and finally, a timed _rennervate_ so that they'd awaken as soon as Scorpius and Albus apparated free.

Scorpius moved back to Albus once the final charm was set. Albus still appeared sick and Scorpius did his best to be soothing; it was his fault, after all. He helped Albus lug the dead weight of the M.L.E. officer, saying, "We should be able to apparate. Are you feeling up to it?"

"Yeah," Albus answered shakily. He gestured to the officer. "What about her?"

"Side-along, I'll take her," Scorpius said simply, hand clasping her shoulder. He shot a feeler to the outside environment, recognizing its familiar hum. "We are not far from Hogsmeade, so should we apparate to the main street, outside of The Three Broomsticks?"

"Sounds good to me."

Scorpius reached over to squeeze Albus's hand encouragingly, worried about whether Albus could really make it or not. Then, each turning on the spot with two sharp _crack!_s, they disappeared.

-o-o-o-o-

The gentle spring wind, though pleasant, did little to ease his mind. Scorpius sighed deeply, hands clenching the fabric of his sleeves, and looked across the Black Lake, watching it ripple in rhythmic waves, much like the energy it exuded. Behind him, closer to the castle, he could hear other students laughing, enjoying their free time, and he wondered what it would be like to simple exist as they existed and not see and feel everything moving and humming.

He often wondered what it was like to be normal.

"There you are! I've been looking all over."

Scorpius turned and smiled sweetly at Albus, hiding his despondency even though he felt a sharp twinge of guilt. Albus only needed to know him as happy and kind, not as the monster he was.

"Feeling better?" Scorpius asked as Albus stopped at his side.

"Loads!" Albus laughed. "That stunning spell those jerks hit me with yesterday was really strong, but I've been taking that potion you gave me like you said. I already feel back to normal."

_Normal_.

"Mm, I see," Scorpius hummed in a playful tone.

"I really do!" Albus insisted, slinging an arm across his shoulders and drawing him close. "But man! We get into trouble _a lot!_ I thought my dad was going to lose it when he came to The Three Broomsticks. This was, what? Your thirteenth time to be abducted?"

_Sixteenth._

"Mmm."

They stood quietly together for a moment. Scorpius wanted to lean into Albus, lay his head on Albus's shoulder, but, after the day before, he had made some rules for himself and intended to follow them. The most important one was that he wouldn't trick Albus into loving him anymore – that he wouldn't use these moments to stir up Albus's emotions. It was time to let Albus go, so that Albus could find someone who was actually a good person and could fall in love for real.

Even if it would hurt to watch.

"Lunch will start soon," Scorpius said, and made to slip away from Albus, but was stopped by Albus holding on to his arm. He glanced questioningly at the other.

"Scorpius…" Albus started with a mild look of embarrassment. "I know it's a bit late to be asking, but… what do you plan to do once we graduate?"

Scorpius blinked. Albus, indeed, had never asked him about his plans for the future, not that he had ever given any indication as to his goal. Mostly because it sounded awfully lame and would probably ruin any image Albus had of him. But Albus was asking now and Scorpius had already done too much to the poor man to tack on lying. "I'd like to… well… be an inventor."

Albus's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "An inventor? Of what?"

"Of many things. I understand very well how magic works," Scorpius smirked lightly but humorously, "so I thought I might put that… _ability_ to use."

"Where would you work?"

"At my home," Scorpius said slowly. "Everything I need is there... I've already started on some projects."

Albus was staring, taken aback, but then the shock left his face and he grinned broadly. "That makes so much sense. I kept wondering what you'd go into- healing, ministry work, stuff like that. None of it ever seemed to fit, but being an inventor? I can totally see you leaning over your cauldron as you discover a new potion."

"You should never lean over your cauldron," Scorpius chided, more than a little embarrassed by his admission, but he, as always, was swept away and comforted by Albus's positive vibes. Feeling flustered, he turned and began walking back to the castle.

Laughing, Albus trotted to catch up, falling into step with him. "You're unexpectedly shy."

Scorpius wondered if that made him like Ethan Evans. "Hmm. Maybe."

Albus chuckled a little more, but then cleared his throat, his presence changing to a more serious feel. "Well, now that I know what you're going to be doing, is it –arrggh!"

Having been looking at Scorpius rather than his footing, Albus stepped straight into a rabbit hole and tripped to the ground. Scorpius choked back his laughter and looked away innocently when Albus shot accusatory green eyes at him.

"Yeah, thanks mate," Albus said flatly, but his tone lacked bite and he soon grinned, too. "Grace _is_ my middle name."

"I thought it was Severus," Scorpius answered quietly, smiling when Albus gave him another half-hearted glare. Albus then made to stand, but winced and fell back down on one knee and Scorpius moved to his side, worried. "What is it? Are you hurt?"

"No, I just think I might've twisted my ankle a little," Albus answered, leaning to inspect said ankle.

Scorpius nodded and began to leave. "I'll go get–"

"No! Wait." Albus grabbed his hand, pulling him back, and shifted awkwardly on his knee. He looked up at Scorpius with an oddly nervous expression. "What I wanted to ask, you know, before I made a fool of myself… _again_… Just that, is it… Would it be okay if… I mean, we're _graduating_, you know? I'm probably going to be in Auror training and you'll be off inventing the next great thing, but I still… I still want to see you as much as possible. I mean, we're friends, we've been together all this time, so… yeah?"

The pleading in Albus's eyes made Scorpius's guilt come back ten-fold, but the love flowing off of Albus was seeping into his senses. The right thing to do would be to agree and then slowly distance himself from Albus, but he knew that if he agreed, he would never be able to let go.

Noticing his hesitation, Albus squeezed his hand. "_Please_, Scorpius?"

Several shocked gasps interrupted anything Scorpius might have said. He and Albus snapped toward the direction of the gasps and Scorpius blinked at the group of girls in wonder of how they had appeared before realizing that Albus's powerful presence had sealed him off to others yet again.

Albus, too, was looking at them in confusion, frowning, but then his expression slowly changed to understanding and then dismay as he glanced between himself and Scorpius. "No, ladies, this isn't what it–"

"He's proposing!" one girl shrieked and then entire group squealed.

"Albus Potter has finally proposed to Scorpius Malfoy!"

"I can't believe it! This is so exciting!"

"How unromantic, though! To do it here instead of someplace special…"

"Maybe he wanted to yesterday but was interrupted by those criminals. They were alone together, you know."

"We have to tell _everyone!_"

"Ah, wait…" Albus held out a hand as if to stop them, but the girls darted up the steps to Hogwarts, squealing and chattering all the while, and he dropped his hand and slumped in defeat.

Scorpius patted him sympathetically on the head, asking, "Do you want me to quick-fix your ankle so you can stop them?"

"No, I'm not even going to bother," Albus sighed heavily. Then, with a snort, "I wonder how long before James finds out? He's got informants everywhere..."

Scorpius laughed at first, but suddenly felt a strange urge to cry – something he hadn't done since he was a child – so he stopped laughing to prevent any choked sobs. Biting his lip he looked down at Albus to see if he'd been noticed but the Gryffindor was shaking his head at the ground, muttering in an amusing manner, and Scorpius felt his whole presence hum with affection for these weird behaviors he had come to know in the other.

How he loved this man.

_"But will love be enough?"_

-o-o-o-o-

On Astoria: I do not intend for her to come across as a horrible mother – just that, having been a young teenager during the second dark war, she may be a little sensitive to her child having such an atypical aptitude for magic. Also, as I doubt Harry published _Voldemort: Biography of a Whiny Dark Wizard_, I always write in a way that most of the wizarding world is ignorant of Voldemort's past and of his parents/childhood/life (as we learned that information through Harry), so that's the reason Astoria wouldn't have the knowledge of Voldemort being Tom Riddle being an orphan.

I hope Scorpius's insecurities are easy to understand! =)


	5. The Years Beyond

I have wanted to post this for a week, but the fanfictionet-dot-net problem, well...

I am not a happy-ending type of writer, so the ending for this just about did me in with its sugary overkill… That said, this story turned out _nothing_ like I originally planned when I chose to expand my oneshot back in December and has thus had many delays – my apologies!

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! The encouragement has been wonderful! I hope this final chapter has a satisfying, if possibly rushed-feeling, ending. =D

-o-o-o-o-

_May 5, 2027, Wednesday_

Malfoy Manor's white stone practically glowed in the mid-morning sun, the gravel drive crunching pleasantly under Albus's shoes as he walked. He didn't bother to adjust the wards around the wrought-iron gates as he approached; they were already inclined to let him pass. The gates billowed as smoke as he went through before readjusting to their previous state and the manor's beauty intensified once inside the wards, quite unlike his first visit when he was fourteen: vines that had crawled up and clung to the outside walls then were now removed or readjusted to the trellised archways leading into the plump but trimmed hedges of the well-maintained gardens; no longer were the windows boarded, and instead many of the clean, clear panes were open to let in the early-summer breeze.

Albus felt warmed by the sight. The Malfoy estate owed its returned charm to Scorpius, who had spent a good deal of his free time the first year after Hogwarts restoring the manor and surrounding gardens to the glory they once knew. From the paintings Albus had seen while passing through the manor's parlors, everything about the property appeared to be back to original form.

Well, except that small patch of wilderness in the back gardens, where it felt as though the untamed hedges were looming giants and the flowers and weeds spilling into the pathway were kissing his legs, vines tugging at his arms like long, gnarled fingers. Albus had repeatedly asked Scorpius about that particular area, but every time Scorpius would only smile and wave the topic away, saying, "I'll get to it eventually," in a tone that gave Albus the distinct impression that that garden would remain wild. For whatever reason, Scorpius seemed to hold a certain fondness for the spot.

A sharp trill caught Albus's attention and he watched as several beautiful birds dashed across the path ahead of him, moving from one garden to the next. He had never given much thought to the peafowl roaming the grounds until he'd seen one spread its gorgeous white feathers, looking crowned by both delicate lace and soft clouds, and he'd adored the vain birds ever since. He followed the small flock's quick movements with his eyes until it disappeared behind some bursting rose bushes, and then shook his head with a pleased smile before continuing around the other side of the manor to where he was to have the weekly brunch with Scorpius.

Wednesday visits to Malfoy Manor were the highlight of Albus's week.

Originally he'd visited on Sundays; the first six months of Auror training was mostly classroom based lectures, similar to that of Hogwarts, followed by year of hard training in practical usage through elaborately designed, situational exercises, with both terms arranged in a Monday thru Friday schedule. However, when he had advanced to a class D Auror – the tentative license given to those freshly out of training and which held hardly any liberties beyond an average M.L.E. officer – he'd been assigned to a class B Auror for one-on-one instruction and training. Auror Froi Tiedoll was an affectionately father-like but somehow stoically calm older man, and Albus's main job had then been to follow Auror Tiedoll on trivial assignments as an assistant until he was gradually introduced to and examined under more critical situations.

Since then, Albus had progressed to a class C license, still considered too young and too green for the most dangerous of operations (Albus found it irritating that his father had been a class A Auror – an exceptionally rare license – at the same age). Auror Tiedoll's approaching retirement plans, and consequent transition to lower priority assignments, made him the perfect partner for a freshly-hatched Auror. As Tiedoll covered weekends, Albus's days off fell on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Scorpius hadn't minded changing their brunch from Sundays to Wednesdays; self-employment, apparently, was quite adaptable to irregular hours.

"Good morning, Albus."

Albus smiled at the warm greeting as his attention snapped to Scorpius sitting primly at a simple, iron-edged glass table in the center of the butterfly garden and sipping from a teacup, the brightly-colored insects fluttering from flower to flower in the bushes around them. Albus followed the movement of Scorpius's throat as he swallowed the tea, feeling an incredible urge to lean over and lick and bite the exposed skin.

"Hey," Albus breathed, pushing away the brunch-inappropriate thoughts and sliding into the red-cushioned chair across from Scorpius. A steaming cup of coffee was already waiting for him and he pulled the sugar bowl closer. "It looks like it'll be sunny today."

Scorpius leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, as though soaking in the warmth of the morning sun, and hummed in agreement. Wiltshire was particularly resistant to warm summers.

They discussed the previous week as they ate, their plans for the next. It was effortless and comfortable now, as opposed to the entire first year that Albus visited. He'd felt extremely out of place in the rapidly beautifying estate then, awkward under the sharp and inquisitive stares of Scorpius's parents and grandmother, and foolish for his stumbling words and lame topics of conversation. Now if one or both of the ladies joined them for brunch or if he passed Draco Malfoy on his way out, Albus felt confident enough to keep his head up and the waver out of his voice.

After all, where was his place if not by Scorpius's side?

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Scorpius asked once they'd finished eating, though it was unnecessary for him to do so and Albus was already standing before he finished his question. They always walked after brunch, whether it was through the manor on rainy or cold days or through the gardens on the bright, warm days.

"I'm not so sure about Pickett," Albus said of one of the year's class D Aurors as they casually strolled between hedges. "He didn't fare so well under the more, er, _stressful_ situations last year, and he doesn't appear to being doing that great this year either. He'll probably be washed to basic M.L.E. I don't think he'll become an Auror."

"Not many people do, it seems," Scorpius said, and paused to examine an azalea bush overflowing with blossoms.

"Yeah, it's tough…" Albus answered distractedly, letting his eyes wander appreciatively over the momentarily diverted former-Slytherin, something he did at any available opportunity. Better wandering eyes than wandering hands, he supposed, although the thought of running his hands over Scorpius's smooth skin – up the slender thighs in a gentle tease, preferably with Scorpius gasping, head thrown back against a pillow – had him unconsciously licking his lips. When Scorpius turned back to him, he smiled innocently and asked, "Been working on anything new?"

Scorpius's eyes met his and Albus occluded out of habit. Two of the first lessons in Auror training were Occlumency and Legilimency, and Albus had been encouraged by his father to practice Occlumency at any possible chance. Suspecting Scorpius of being a skilled Legilimens (how else had the blonde known what he was thinking all through school?), Albus was quick to keep his brief, and sometimes not-so-brief, fantasies to himself, shutting Scorpius out of his mind quite often.

Even with the strong barrier shielding his mind, Scorpius's small, amused smirk made Albus wonder if he'd been found out anyway.

"I have adjusted the portables to use less floo powder," Scorpius said as they resumed walking. "There were some complaints from parents about their children sending so many owls that they were going through floo powder by the bucket. The new model will be out soon."

Albus laughed, well aware that he used the owl feature of his own portable quite often, especially ever since Scorpius created the model keeping with the muggle keypad rather than attaching the mini-quill as with previous models. Now Albus's floo-owls were considerably more legible and his hand didn't get nearly as tired during long messages.

The portable floos had been the first invention Scorpius shared with Albus and, eventually, the magical world. Impressed by the resourcefulness of muggles toward communication, Scorpius had taken their concept of "cell phones" and applied it to magic, altering the small objects to run on floo powder and a small ignition source rather than "batteries."

Naturally, older generations were wary of the portable floos, stating that it was bizarre to walk around talking to a small object, especially since one could not see the other person as one would through a fireplace connection.

Amongst the younger and muggle-familiar groups, however, the invention had spread like wildfire: why wait long hours for a real owl to fly across country or kneel awkwardly and uncomfortably in front of a fire place for an extended conversation? Plus, portable floos were exactly as their name implied – portable! No more hoping friends or family got the last minute change in plans in time, or being stranded, without a fireplace and too young or injured to apparate. As long as the portable was connected to the floo network, it could be used anywhere! The sheer convenience of the device already had most Ministry departments requiring that their field employees own a portable, and it was suspected that soon every employee would need one. In fact, the Auror department had participated as the trial group for the first models (due to Albus's encouragement, of course).

"And your Stone? How is that coming along?" Albus idly asked. The fall after they'd left Hogwarts, Scorpius had mentioned the desire to try making a new Philosopher's Stone, stating that he had too many ideas to complete in one lifetime and therefore needed an extension. Albus only asked after the progress of the stone on occasion to show dutiful interest, as Scorpius's usual bland answer was–

"As well as expected."

Scorpius moved to sit on a stone bench in an alcove of the hedge and Albus followed suit, the silence that settled between them easy and relaxed as they stared across the west garden to the sloping hills of Wiltshire. There were large, old oaks scattered in the grassy fields beyond the blooming gardens and Albus smirked as he imagined ravishing Scorpius in the shade under those trees. Although, given Wiltshire's cool summers, perhaps the open field, surrounded by the tall grass and under the noon sun, would be just as enjoyable. Scorpius's pale skin and white blonde hair would glow against the vibrant green stalks, his lips would be red and swollen from Albus's rough kisses, light eyes tightly shut against the bright sun as he moaned in Albus's arms–

"What _are_ you grinning about, Albus Potter? You look positively feral."

Said grin widening, Albus occluded his mind again before glancing affectionately at Scorpius. "Just thinking about the beauty of the world."

-o-o-

"Beauty of the world, _indeed_."

Scorpius shook his head upon remembering Albus's words as he picked up a wicker fan, waving the light steam rising from his cauldron toward himself and breathing in the wafts to see if they smelled sweet. They did, of course, so he slowly added the Wiggentree bark shavings, watching as the potion turned from a bubbling, thick deep purple to a calm, clear thin liquid.

Who did Albus think he was kidding? The brunette's intensely sexual energy had practically smothered Scorpius all afternoon, making him feel light-headed and intoxicated. It was a wonder that he hadn't stumbled around like a drunk! Only his familiarity with handling Albus's increasingly powerful desires kept him from letting the man have him right there in the garden, no thought given to scandalized family members or house elves peeking out the Manor windows. Salazar himself! It was a good thing their brunches were once a week, only occasionally meeting up at other times; Scorpius knew he couldn't handle long periods of exposure to Albus's wildly seductive energy – case in point: seventh year's oblivia-thon.

Satisfied with the potion's progress, Scorpius moved to the next table where another, red potion simmered in an extra large pewter cauldron. In total, the room contained six different healing potions in the makings, and the high windows were open to the crisp night air so the dizzying fumes could escape.

Once Scorpius finished checking and tweaking each healing potion, he would move to the larger room next door which contained almost twenty various brews and philters. As a potioneer, he had devoted both rooms to providing potions for St. Mungo's and assorted businesses – mostly to keep himself busy (having read through his father's entire library by thirteen) while he waited for his experimental concoctions to finish.

And, well, he really enjoyed the art of potion-making, the way the potential energy changed to kinetic within a cauldron – completely _fascinating_. Other experiments aside, potions were what he truly planned to improve in the wizarding society.

Which led Scorpius to his next healing potion, one that wasn't technically a healing potion – not for St. Mungo's anyway. This potion was in an extra small, gold cauldron, only big enough for a few scoops but that was more than plenty for Scorpius's intentions. The surface of the potion rolled with the occasional bubble as it simmered over a light fire, its milky whiteness looking more like cream was heating rather than the brewing of the Elixir of Life.

Scorpius gave the potion one gentle stir to roll the tiny piece of the Philosopher's Stone at the bottom of the small cauldron. The rest of the stone was safely hidden, not to be touched unless Scorpius had a pressing need for it (he suspected that he wouldn't for some time). Creating the stone had been a delightful process – the first time in years that he had truly felt challenged by magic. Seeing the way the energy wove into the magical form of the stone, Scorpius wondered if Nicolas Flamel had been, well, _different_ like him. It seemed the most probable possibility, as he couldn't imagine a normal wizard _just getting lucky_.

Perhaps, however, he was attributing too much to his odd ability. Plenty of magicals were excellent casters without having to see the mechanics of their magic, after all.

There weren't documentations on how Flamel had used the stone or consequent Elixir of Life, but Scorpius perfected his own use to suit his routine: one tiny drop of elixir (any more than that and the taste was foul rather than nonexistent) once a week and he could expect an extended life.

Albus didn't know it yet, but he was in for a long life as well.

-o-o-

"Awfully insistent tonight, weren't you?"

Albus glanced back at the wizard still lounging lazily on the bed – hair too yellow, skin too tan, eyes an unattractive blue. Maybe someone else found baby blue attractive. Albus didn't. Looking away, he finished buckling his belt and reached for his shirt. "Yeah. Sorry."

"You're always demanding on Wednesdays," the other wizard mumbled, his slight German accent oddly making him sound irritated. Of course, maybe he _was_ irritated. "An unusual day to be so demanding, Wednesday that is, being the middle of the week and all. You know? But I guess it's the beginning of your week, right?"

Rather than answering, Albus shrugged on his robes. He wasn't in the mood to talk; just wanted to get home, take a shower, and go to sleep. Tiedoll expected him bright and early on Thursdays. When the silence in the room started feeling heavy, Albus caved and said over his shoulder, "Wednesdays tend to wind me up."

There was a pause, and then, "Would that have anything to do with someone named 'Scorpius'?"

Albus froze, hand mid-reach for his shoes.

"Look," the other wizard continued, voice quiet but biting, "I know we're not dating, but the least you could do is remember who's in bed with you."

"I-" Albus sighed roughly and ran a hand through his hair before finally turning to face the other. "Sorry. I just- I mean, I'm- I didn't- _Sorry_."

The German wizard – _Archie_ – had his mouth pressed in a thin line and his eyes regarded Albus flatly for a moment before he dropped the stare with a sigh of his own. "My internship ends in a couple weeks," he said, abruptly changing the topic.

"Oh. Will you be going back to Germany?" Albus asked, hesitating before leaning over to finish pulling on his shoes, moving a bit slower so he didn't appear to be as in a rush to escape as he actually was.

"I don't know. Maybe. If I don't get offered a permanent position in the department."

The last bit was muttered, and Albus vaguely remembered that that was how they met, with Archie interning in the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Albus and Tiedoll investigating a string of dark object burglaries possibly connected to similar incidents on the continent.

"Do you," Archie cleared his throat, "Do you want to do lunch tomorrow or… something. Or maybe next week?"

Albus fumbled through his robes, checking for his wand or anything else he didn't want to accidentally leave and glad that he wasn't facing Archie anymore. His lies always showed clearly on his face. "I'm… I'm going to be busy for a while, so I don't think…"

"Ugh, _fine. _Get out."

"Archie, I'm–"

"I don't want one of your lame apologies!" Archie snapped and finally pushed off the bed to stomp toward his bathroom. "Just _get out_, Al. And don't floo me again."

The bathroom door slammed shut and Albus sighed, feeling both guilty and frustrated. He considered trying to apologize to the German, at least so they didn't end their, er, _association_ with a bitter resentment, but he couldn't think of anything to say. What _could _he say? Somehow "thanks for conveniently letting me bang you as a substitute, thought you knew that's what it was about" didn't seem appropriate.

Instead, he took one more look around the room for anything that might be his and then pulled out his wand to apparate.

As he turned and just started to feel the pull of apparition, he heard Archie yell, "You're an asshole, Albus Potter!"

-o-o-o-o-

_May 12, 2027, Wednesday_

"And how is your stone coming along?"

Scorpius glanced up just as Albus drank from his mug of coffee and smirked. "As well as expected."

With a wry grin, Albus set the mug back on the table, waving his hand lightly at a pair of butterflies that fluttered by his head. "Knowing you, it's not only already completed, but probably even better than Flamel's original stone."

Scorpius hummed and took a sip of his own Elixir-tinted drink. A flash of white caught his eye and he turned to see a peahen snipping at the butterflies that ventured too close to her. There were wards, of course, to keep the peafowl away from the butterfly garden (and from eating all the flowers and plants), but the peahen clearly enjoyed the game that she could never win. He smiled, amused by the pretty bird.

A sudden, intense wave of energy slammed into Scorpius and he hastily, set his teacup down before he lost his grip on the porcelain handle. Taking a brief moment to compose himself against Albus's emotions, his purposefully shifted to stare firmly into the other's green eyes, almost sagging in relief when Albus instantly occluded. Occlumency had the fortunate benefit of closing off more than a person's mind; Albus's energy sharply decreased to a low purr.

_What perverted thoughts were going through your head this time, Albus?_ Scorpius wondered, amused but wanting to shake his head in disbelief – he'd only looked away for a second, for Merlin's sake. Albus's blatant desire had his body tingling warmly, and he suppressed a shudder to ask, "How is Auror Tiedoll?"

Albus gave a small smirk, clearly thinking he'd gotten away with whatever fantasy, and then started explaining his and Tiedoll's involvement in a recent cursed object case.

-o-o-o-o-

_May 14, 2027, Friday_

The Department of International Magical Cooperation was not nearly as crowded as Scorpius had expected, although it was only mid-morning and thus had a likely chance of becoming busier as the day progressed.

Stepping away from the lifts, Scorpius casually ducked several memos that zipped overhead and made his way to the help desk at the far end of the rectangular room. Several offices lined the walls, with the occasional secretary waiting just outside the doors, the memos either landing in their inboxes or flying from their outboxes. A few glanced at Scorpius as he passed, some doing double takes and blatantly staring, but he ignored them.

The witch seated behind the help desk didn't notice Scorpius at first, her painted red lips pursed and dark locks being twisted around a manicured finger as she browsed Witch Weekly. Scorpius recognized her as being a Gryffindor three years ahead of him at Hogwarts, Matilda Merrylite to be exact. He lightly tapped on the counter to catch her attention and when she finally looked at him it was with none of the apprehension of her coworkers.

"Hey there, Malfoy," Matilda greeted, her smile showing big, white teeth. "Been a while. What brings you here today?"

"Indeed, it has been a while, Miss Merrylite." Scorpius remembered liking her friendliness, forceful though it may be, and returned the smile before indicating the parchment in his hand. "One of the vendors I supply potions for is hoping to spread his clientele to the rest of Europe and has asked all of his potioneers to procure the proper permits."

"Ah, then you want the International Trading Standards Body," Matilda said and leaned back to pull one of the silver tassels hanging behind her. "I'll get Archie to help you. He's real nice. So, potions, eh?"

They chatted about the Scorpius's potions that were intended for the continent until a young, hay-colored blonde wizard entered from the door to the left of Matilda's desk. Scorpius gave the young man credit for only flinching slightly at the sight of his Death's Eyes (one quick look at Matilda's easy smile and bright attitude and the blonde's nervous energy was relaxing). Matilda introduced the German wizard as Archie Holt and then demanded that Scorpius owl her sometime, real owl or through her portable floo, before letting Archie escort him away from her desk.

"One more thing, Malfoy," she called after him with a smirk, "The Auror Office is on Level 2, in case you wanted to know."

Scorpius smiled knowingly at her, but the energy of the wizard next to him strangely tensed. As they walked into a private office Holt asked, his German accent sounding more pronounced, "You have business with the Aurors?"

"A friend of mine is an Auror," Scorpius explained lightly.

"Oh. How lovely." Both Holt's energy and tone indicated that he thought it was anything but. However, as he motioned Scorpius toward one of the cushioned chairs and settled himself behind his desk, his earlier calmness seemed to overtake the irritation. When his looked at Scorpius again, it was with a business-like friendliness. "Matilda said something about a continental permit? Is this for Europe only or are you looking for an extended certification for Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas?"

"Europe alone will be enough."

At Scorpius's words, filing drawers behind Archie opened and a few parchments flew out, coming to rest under Holt's poised hand, his quill already prepped. He asked, not looking up from the forms, "Are you looking for a merchant license or a supplier permit?"

"A supplier permit," Scorpius answered. Again, drawers opened and parchments escaped, this time landing in a neat pile in front of Scorpius.

"Please fill those out and promptly owl them back," Holt explained and handed Scorpius a clip for the parchments. "We'll have to have someone conduct a field exam to guarantee the quality of environment where the potions are made and that supplies used aren't out of date or tampered with-" his eyes ran over Scorpius's impeccable, well-tailored robes appreciatively and he smiled, "-which I don't think will be a problem for you, but it's standard protocol. I have just a few more questions and then we can get the filing process going. Can you spell your name out for me? Last name first, then first name and middle initial."

"Malfoy. M-A-L-F-O-Y. Scorpius. S-C-O…" Scorpius trailed off at the sudden sharp, angry hitch in Holt's energy, similar to before at the mention of Aurors. The German's eyes moved over him again but this time the inspection was less approving and more gauging.

"Please continue," Holt said after a moment, but his tone held a certain chill.

"S-C-O-R-P-I-U-S, H," Scorpius finished, a little confused but mostly curious.

Holt tapped his parchments into alignment, the action not as casual as he wanted Scorpius to believe, his annoyed vibrations a crackling giveaway. "That's a rare name. Scorpius. At least in Germany. Is it common here in England?"

"I have neither met nor heard of anyone sharing my name," Scorpius said slowly.

Holt's grip on the edges of the parchments tightened. "That Auror friend of yours... Is it- It's not… _Albus Potter_, is it?"

Intrigued, Scorpius only meant to probe lightly, unobtrusively – Holt's eyes were narrowed and firmly locked on his, making it easy – to find the cause of saying Albus's name like it was vile, but the first image that flittered between their minds was of skin on skin and, shocked, Scorpius pressed forcefully into the other wizard's head. He was immediately assaulted by memories of lingering and rushed kisses, roaming hands, rocking bodies, of a sweaty Albus, deep voice moaning, "_Scorpius…_"

Scorpius quickly ended the connection between them and Holt reeled from the legilimency, gripping the armrests of his chair to keep from tumbling over. He choked over breaths and wildly eyed Scorpius, hand scrambling for his drawer in obvious search for his wand.

"You-! Did you just–"

"_Obliviate!_"

The spell was out of Scorpius's mouth before he could consider otherwise. Holt slammed back into his chair under its force as every memory of Albus Potter was completely erased from his conscious mind.

The energy in the room sparked and wavered in response Scorpius's unrestrained emotions. Trembling, he fell back into his own chair, not remembering having stood, and tried to breathe long, calming breaths, watching anxiously as Holt's head lolled dizzily from the two invasive spells. Pain radiated out from Scorpius's chest as the images of Albus with Holt replayed in his mind and he felt a sudden, but brief, surge of anger toward the German wizard.

But no, this wasn't Holt's fault. Scorpius had no one to blame but himself. Albus was no longer a child and Scorpius had purposefully put distance between them even though he knew of Albus's desires, all under the guise of encouraging Albus to find someone normal. He had known Albus was… _involved_ with others – the man was young with a healthy sexual appetite, after all, and had to express it somehow – but _knowing_ and _seeing_ were entirely different. What idiocy had possessed him to ever believe that he could accept Albus being with someone else?

Scorpius closed his eyes and concentrated on relaxing the energy in the room so that Holt would have an easier time breathing. The hot vibrations were quickly soothed and when Scorpius opened his eyes it was to see Holt still looking a tad sick but blinking back into awareness.

"Mr. Holt," Scorpius started quietly, and he hoped that Holt was still too woozy to hear the tremor in his voice, "If you are feeling ill, perhaps we should reconvene at a later date? I can return with the completed paperwork at that time."

Holt weakly reached for his quill and nodded, more confused than sick. "Yes… Yes, that's fine. I-I have a Monday opening at nine if you could stop by… I apologize for not being able to finish today. I… I am not sure what has come over me."

"No need to apologize," Scorpius assured guiltily. "I will be here at nine on Monday. Please rest well."

Scorpius almost forgot the parchments he was to complete in his hurry to leave the office and he _did_ forget about Matilda Merrylite, not even hearing her call his name as he all but dashed to the lifts. Once the grate closed behind him and the lift was descending back to the Atrium, Scorpius slumped against the wall, rubbing the heel of his hand against his temple, glad that no one else was aboard to witness his weakness.

It was time to stop playing games. Scorpius more than wanted to, but had he waited too long, wasted too much time drawing out their friendship? Albus's desires did seem to be more frequent and intense each week, but Scorpius had both flirted with and avoided Albus for so long that the possibility of their relationship changing made him nervous. What would Albus even say if Scorpius suddenly confessed? Sexual attraction did not mean that Albus was interested in anything more.

_Maybe his expectations are too high now… What if I ruin his idea of me?_ Scorpius cringed inwardly at the thought. It was like eyeing a beautifully decorated cake all day and then finally getting a piece only to find that the cake is stale, the icing brittle and sour.

He didn't want to be Albus's stale cake.

"_Scorpius…_"

The lift opened at the Atrium and Scorpius straightened as other patrons entered, but he made no move to exit, frozen with his thoughts.

-o-o-

Albus quietly sighed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. A quick look at Tiedoll standing next to him showed the older Auror to be snoozing vertically, arms folded and head slumped, the occasional quiet snore. The other Aurors packed into the small room seemed to be in similar states of boredom or catnaps, the only people paying any attention to Harry Potter's droning agenda being the unlucky ones at the front of the crowd. The Auror Office needed to invest in some chairs, Albus decided, legs sore from standing for so long – or a bigger meeting room, as someone had just accidentally elbowed him in the back.

_You need that important file_.

The thought flashed, completely unexpected.

Albus blinked vacantly.

Yeah, that's right, there was a file that he needed, now that his mind reminded him. It was the... the _file_, that _important _one sitting on his desk.

But he didn't have a desk.

_On Auror Tiedoll's desk_, his mind corrected quickly.

Oh. Yeah. Obviously.

Albus's feet were already moving toward the door before he realized as though he were on autopilot, but a hand slipped gently around his bicep to stop him. Albus blinked some more, at first not entirely sure why he stopped, before understanding that he was being tugged by another person. Even as he turned to face the other person, his eyes were drawn to the door and he felt a compelling need to leave the room.

For that file, of course.

"Where are you going, Al?" Tiedoll asked quietly, apparently not as asleep as Albus originally believed.

"I need to get that file," Albus whispered back.

Tiedoll's arched an eyebrow. "What file?"

"The _important_ one," Albus said impatiently and brushed off the older man's hand.

"Can't it wait?" Tiedoll asked, but Albus only shook his head in response and continued maneuvering through the crowded meeting room for the door.

When he stepped through, he was startled to find the office empty. Normally, M.L.E. officers, employees, and secretaries still bustled between all the difference divisions. Even the receptionist that always sat at the large front desk at the entrance to the Auror Office was mysteriously absent. Albus suddenly felt uneasy but when he spun around to search the other direction, he bowled over the person standing there.

"Oh! Sorry!" Albus apologized, grabbing narrow shoulders to steady them both. It took him but half a second to recognize the other. "Scorpius!"

Scorpius smiled, but something about it seemed off to Albus. Not quite forced, but not as relaxed as normal.

"Hello, Albus," Scorpius greeted in his usual polite tone. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by your office. I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"Not at all!" Albus assured, grinning. "You're making my day!"

The smile Scorpius gave this time was small and almost gloomy and Albus gently massaged the shoulders he still held.

"What's wrong?" he asked, feeling his stomach clench when Scorpius wouldn't look at him. "Did something happen?"

"No, nothing," Scorpius said, but still wouldn't fully meet Albus's eyes, ducking his head when Albus tried to lean into his line of sight. Instead, he reached up and began to smooth the collar of Albus's Auror robes, brushing away breakfast crumbs Albus hadn't even noticed, and untwisted Albus's ID lanyard so that it lay flat.

Albus immediately recognized the obsessive habit – Scorpius always took to grooming when nervous, something the blonde had apparently never noticed about himself. Albus slid his hands down Scorpius's arms to close lightly on the thin wrists, stopping Scorpius's fidgeting. "Scorpius, what–"

"Tuesday," Scorpius said, abruptly cutting off Albus's concern. He finally lifted his head and stared firmly into Albus's eyes. "If you are not busy, would you like to come to the manor for lunch or dinner on Tuesday?"

"I'll come. Either time works," Albus said slowly, confused. "You'll be busy on Wednesday or something?"

"No, that is not what I meant," Scorpius answered quickly. "I would like you to come for brunch, too, of course, but I… I was hoping we could, maybe, spend more time together…"

A rare blush crept into Scorpius's cheeks and he looked away once more.

Albus's whole body jerked with sudden desire at the shy words and he half-wished the office wasn't empty so that he would have more motive to restrain himself. His other half was seriously considering pushing Scorpius back onto a desk and having the man right there, with full intentions of ignoring anyone who returned and damn Ministry laws of public indecency. As it was, however, the only sign of Albus's inner debate was his grip on Scorpius's wrists tightening a bit and he was rather proud of himself for not jumping the blonde.

_Wanting to spend more time together doesn't mean he's interested_, Albus told himself with an inward sigh. After all, Scorpius's parents and grandmother traveled often and Scorpius spent most of the time cooped up alone with potions. It was more likely that Scorpius was simply feeling lonely.

"How about lunch, then?" Albus breathed finally, already planning to stay long enough on Tuesday for dinner as well.

Scorpius smiled again and this time it looked real and at its normal brightness. "Lunch it is."

Before either of them could say any more, the door to the meeting room opened slightly and Auror Tiedoll slipped through the crack.

"Al?" he called, searching the room before settling on the pair standing nearby. "I was wondering if you'd planned on coming back."

"Oh yeah!" Albus gasped, having forgotten about the Auror meeting entirely.

"Oh yeah," Tiedoll mocked in a friendly tone, but his eyes studied Scorpius before flicking back to Albus.

"I should go," Scorpius said and stepped back – Albus hadn't realized they were standing so close. He nodded at Tiedoll and gave Albus another smile with, strangely enough, another light blush and then swiftly left the office toward the lifts. As he went, he passed the receptionist at the door, offering her a small nod, too.

"Where is everyone?" Tiedoll called to her as soon as Scorpius was out of sight, clearly having noticed the emptiness of the office.

The receptionist confusedly looked around the room and then shook her head as she moved behind her desk. "I'm not sure. I had a startling urge to go to the Atrium, but when I got there, I couldn't remember why I needed to be there in the first place. I saw some others leaving, too, but I didn't ask them where they were going…"

As she spoke, more employees and some officers started to drift back into the room with equally confused and frustrated expressions.

"How odd," Tiedoll mused quietly. "What about that _important_ _file _you needed, Al?"

"Huh?" Albus blinked at the question. "What fi– oh! Oh… I… I don't even know which file I wanted, now that I think about it."

Tiedoll's expression was calculating and guarded, as though he were working something out in his head, but he shrugged after a moment and gestured for Albus to follow him back to the meeting.

-o-o-

"That friend of yours that came by this morning…"

Albus glanced up over the steaming bowl of soup at Tiedoll, blowing across his noodles before asking, "You mean Scorpius?"

"Is that his name?" Tiedoll asked, twisting his fork in his own soup bowl.

"Yeah, Scorpius Malfoy," Albus answered, watching Tiedoll's expression carefully.

As expected, the older man's eyebrows rose at the mention of Scorpius's last name. Albus frowned. His father had explained once about the Malfoys' roles in the Dark Wars but Albus, being from a different generation, still couldn't understand the instant dislike that people had for the family. Death's Eyes alone had caused Scorpius plenty of problems; the blonde didn't need people holding crimes that had happened before he was born against him, too.

"Don't look at me like that, Albus," Tiedoll chided gently without looking up from his lunch. "I mean young Mr. Malfoy no insult. Simply curious, is all."

"Sorry," Albus sighed. "I get pretty defensive when it comes to him."

"A close friend?"

_"I… I was hoping we could, maybe, spend more time together…"_

_Maybe closer than friends_, Albus hoped with a small smile and said, "Yeah. We were in the same year at Hogwarts."

"I see," Tiedoll hummed and slurped long noodles off of his fork, chewing them slowly before swallowing and adding, "Top of your class, I imagine."

"He was Head Boy, too." It wasn't his own accomplishment, yet Albus couldn't help but say the words proudly.

Tiedoll set his fork aside and finally looked at Albus, his gaze firm. "Yes, the kind of magical who can confund an entire office full of skilled witches and wizards without disrupting any wards tends to try harder to be an exemplary student. No one ever suspects the good kids, but they can be just as dangerous."

Albus's fork froze halfway to his mouth. "What?"

They stared at each other for a long moment and, for the first time in Tiedoll's presence, Albus was glad he'd been trained to automatically occlude when meeting another's eyes as he felt the distinct tingle of Tiedoll probing at his barriers. Albus was torn between anger at Tiedoll's hint that Scorpius pretended to be a good person and concern because Tiedoll was not the sort of man that would make such an accusation lightly. What was the Tiedoll trying to find in his mind? If Scorpius had ever given Albus reason to doubt, then he certainly didn't remember it and he was tempted to show Tiedoll such.

But then Tiedoll's gaze dropped to his half-finished soup and he resumed eating, saying between bites, "Your performance lately has been noted. We may be involved in some more dangerous assignments soon."

"Right," Albus snorted, knowing full well the kind of assignments his father wanted to give him, but grinned when Tiedoll sent him a warning look. "Right now, someone's cursing her teapot to bite fingers off, I'm sure. I'd hate to miss out on _that_ mission."

"It'd be a step up from hexed calculatrons, no doubt," Tiedoll agreed lightly, smiling warmly, and the tenseness between them dissipated as they joked about previous assignments over the rest of lunch.

-o-o-o-o-

_May 16, 2027, Sunday_

When the glimmer left, that was the moment Albus had known he was too late.

There hadn't been a need to check, to confirm, because he saw, watched, Tiedoll's eyes quickly dim until the last glimmer of life vanished completely, leaving a vacant and painless stare in its place, like the soul itself escaping its bodily confines. Albus had stared into those empty eyes for a long time before his father pulled him away, away from the dead body, away from the curse-wrecked room, and away from the crumbling house. How long had he sat there, hearing his name being called, body being shook, but only able to think about those familiar eyes staring at him, first shocked and then dead?

Albus remembered looking down at his body that was covered in the other's blood, and remembered losing his stomach when he recalled the way Tiedoll's leg had exploded when the first curse hit. Things after that were a blur. He knew that he had been taken straight the St. Mungo's after they magicked the blood off him, had him with a mind-healer immediately. Albus remembered talking to her, losing his stomach again, and, mostly, feeling numb, confused almost. He had been taken to his old house after that, rather than the flat he shared with Louis and Hugo, and his father had whispered directions to his mother about him being in shock and needing rest – there would likely be nightmares.

But these memories didn't feel real to him; the time had moved as though he had watched the events on fast forward in a pensieve, and everything kept returning to the beginning and repeating, with Tiedoll shoving him aside as the curses flew toward them.

That was the only part of his memory that moved slowly.

The little amount of sanity he still grasped told him that everything had happened hours ago. It was morning when they had started up those stairs in the abandoned house – supposed to be abandoned, emptied, no one, nothing there but some dark objects – and now it was night, only a few muggle cars moving in the streets behind him as he sat on the bench and watched the way the raindrops rippled the surface of a river he didn't recognize.

Froi Tiedoll, his mentor for a year and half, like a second father to him, dead.

The cold that soaked through his robes went unnoticed, but when he stopped feeling the rain beat down on him, he slowly turned his head to see why.

"You have an umbrella," he murmured.

Scorpius's eyebrows knitted together in concern and he whispered back, "Yes. It is raining."

He stared at Scorpius blankly and asked, "Are you real?"

Instead of answering, Scorpius placed a warm hand against his cold cheek and Albus breathed in sharply at the feel of it, _that_ he felt it, as he hadn't been feeling anything for a while. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, covering Scorpius's hand with his own icy one. He had a brief moment of nuzzling into the warm hand and then Scorpius had one knee on the bench next to him, leaning over him and using the other hand to brush his soaked hair out of his face. Albus opened his eyes, first seeing the umbrella still floating nearby, and then turning his head slightly so that all he saw was Scorpius's intense, anxious gaze.

"Albus, why are you sitting in the rain?" Scorpius demanded quietly. "How _long_ have you been out here?"

Albus stared at Scorpius as he tried, with great difficulty, to get his mind working. He didn't know how long he'd been sitting on the bench, how he had gotten there, or even where he _there_ was. The last thing he remembered was his mother helping him change clothes and then into his old bed. The only answer he could give Scorpius was a small shake of the head.

Scorpius took Albus's hands in his own, giving a gentle tug. "Come with me?" was his soft request, and Albus obediently stood.

Scorpius led him down the stone walkway that followed the river and over a small bridge into the trees beyond, the river dividing the wilderness from the city. Once they were safely hidden in the trees, Scorpius asked, "Are you okay to apparate?" and at Albus's slight nod they were soon twisting into apparition. When they landed, Albus shook away Scorpius's hands and fell to his knees, dry-heaving over the edge of one of Malfoy Manor's many balconies. Scorpius kneeled next to him and rubbed his back soothingly until he finished hacking.

Then Albus was led inside, through a warm bedroom and into a large bathroom. Scorpius left Albus's side for a moment, pushing up his sleeves and starting hot water running from multiple ornate faucets into the huge, spa-like bath. Albus watched blandly as Scorpius walked to the nearby cabinets and studied the potions within before deciding on one and carrying it back to the filling bath. After pouring the entire bottle of potion in the water, he returned to Albus, kneeling to untie Albus's shoes and asking Albus to step out of them.

Albus wasn't even wearing socks.

Scorpius then helped him out of the soaked robes until he was naked and dropped the heavy clothing down a shoot cleverly disguised as a picture of the ocean. Albus was still too out of it to be embarrassed about his nudity and didn't even blush or shiver when Scorpius wrapped a towel snugly around his waist, tucking the edge in so that it would stay in place. Scorpius took his hands again and tugged him to the edge of the bath, stopping the water with a flick, and then helping him into the painfully hot water, making sure he was comfortable before whispering, "I'll be right back."

Albus lay back against the smooth side of the bath, feeling his entire body tingle oddly, possibly pleasantly, and guessed it had something to do with Scorpius's potion. He absently looked around the bathroom, noticing several everyday objects on the counter, the relaxed tranquility of the room, and dimly wondered if it was Scorpius's personal bathroom.

Scorpius returned, and he slipped out of his own outer robe, dropping it down the same hidden shoot. He hiked up his under-robe and moved behind Albus to sit on the edge of the bath, pressing a hand gently against Albus's shoulder. In slow response, Albus sat up a little straighter, then waited for Scorpius to adjust before slumping back again and Scorpius's legs were in the water on either side of him. He kept one hand at rest in his lap but laid the other along Scorpius's thigh and laid his head against it, closing his eyes. A moment later he felt Scorpius start to comb a hand slowly and lightly through his hair and he released a shaky sigh. Albus distantly knew that the closeness of their bodies, this intimate familiarity, should be making him both ecstatic and nervous, but the only thing his clogged mind could acknowledge was the tension leaving his body as he relaxed against Scorpius.

"What time is it?" he murmured, mouth moving before his mind registered the thought.

"Almost three in the morning," Scorpius answered. Then, just as quietly, "Keep your eyes closed while I wash your hair."

Albus soon felt warm water running softly over his head and then there was the smell of soap as Scorpius soothingly lathered the shampoo in, using just enough pressure and scratching ever so lightly that Albus wouldn't have been able to keep his eyes open even if he wanted to. He tilted his head forward and side to side when Scorpius asked, waiting patiently when Scorpius rinsed the first out and then applied another nice-smelling soap. While the second soap settled, Scorpius moved his hands lower to Albus's neck and shoulders to start a gentle massage.

"Why were you outside in the rain so late?" Albus asked, again finding himself speaking without connection to his thoughts.

"I needed an ingredient that requires a rainy, moonless night to shed its skin," Scorpius whispered.

"Oh," was all Albus said in response. He vaguely wondered about the notion of "fate." Was it fate that repeatedly brought Scorpius to him and him to Scorpius? He wanted to ask, but what he said instead was, "I watched Froi Tiedoll die today."

Scorpius's hands paused, but he didn't say anything, and a second later his hands were moving again.

"The place was supposed to be empty, we were just there for dark object pickup, but a couple of their guys returned… They panicked when they saw us," Albus continued, a lump in his throat, voice starting to shake. He felt the light pressure of Scorpius's hand under his chin and tilted his head back accordingly for the rinse. "He pushed me away, wouldn't let me help… I- I don't know what the curse was, but when it hit Froi in the knee…" Albus hesitated, swallowing thickly, and opened his eyes, staring up at Scorpius as the suds were rubbed from his hair. "I didn't know what to do. I tried an anti-bleeding spell, but his leg… And the curses kept coming…"

"Close your eyes, Albus," Scorpius ordered meekly.

Albus did as told and soon the water was running over his forehead, down the sides of his face and bridge of his nose, but his chest was heaving with quick breaths now, and he couldn't stop swallowing, the feeling of something lodged in his throat choking him.

"I… I watched him die, and there was nothing I could do," he rasped and his heartbeat quickened.

The water stopped flowing abruptly and Albus immediately twisted around to focus on Scorpius with wide, horrified eyes. "Not like that, I've never… never seen someone…"

And then he was wrapping his arms around Scorpius's waist and pulling the other man onto his lap, the fact that he was dragging Scorpius into the water not even registering in his grief-ridden mind. He pressed his face to Scorpius's chest and choked out a sob as Scorpius embraced him just as tightly around the shoulders. Albus's body shuddered from the uncontrollable emotions finally flooding into him now that the numbness was receding, the image of Tiedoll's torn body not going away from his sight.

Froi Tiedoll, who was kind and warm but stern when necessary, who was reasonable and understanding, who was retiring to travel with his wife in only seven more months.

Albus didn't know how long he held Scorpius fixed to him before he finally lost all his strength, when he had nothing left to give to sorrow. Scorpius didn't say a word, keeping his grip on Albus's shoulders even with Albus's arms fell slack around his waist. The possessive hold was comforting in ways that words would never be.

When Scorpius did move, it was only to take Albus's face in his hands and press a soft kiss to the weary Auror's forehead.

They stayed like that for a little longer and then Scorpius was leading him out of the bath and handing him warm, fluffy towels. Albus didn't remember a house elf coming in the bathroom at any point, but there was a night shirt and his cleaned boxers on the counter. Though he was too exhausted to really work himself into an embarrassed fluster about it, Albus at least had the awareness by this point to blush at his nakedness in front of the other man. Scorpius thankfully left him to finish drying and change, giving his hand a quick squeeze on the way. When Albus finally exited the bathroom, Scorpius had changed into a night robe and was pulling back the thick comforter on the bed, beckoning Albus over.

The cool sheets and soft bed felt amazing. Albus briefly wondered if he was going to be left alone, but then Scorpius was sliding in next to him and he lifted his arms to draw Scorpius closer. He returned the kiss to the forehead that Scorpius had given him and then rolled onto his side, pulling Scorpius's smaller body firmly against his and breathing in the earthy tang that only someone who spent most of the day pouring over potions would have. Scorpius didn't protest, merely allowing Albus to maneuver them both into place.

The earlier distress had left behind a throbbing emptiness and Albus hugged Scorpius tighter, willing the emptiness to fill with the love and tenderness that Scorpius gave him.

Scorpius was rubbing small, slow circles on Albus's chest, and it didn't take long for his warmth to lull Albus into sleep.

-o-o-

_May 17, 2027, Monday_

Scorpius awoke hours later still in Albus's embrace, though the grip had considerably loosened. Bright sunlight streamed in the large windows on either side of the bed and he idly wondered what time of day it was. His body felt heavy and stiff from lying in the same position for so long, but he didn't dare move lest he rouse Albus.

Albus's breathing was even and relaxed, but Scorpius could feel the pain that yet disrupted the man's energy, the grief that lingered in the air. The familiarity of Albus's presence had first come as a surprise to Scorpius while he walked along the river, searching for occamy skins, but the wall of sorrow that had slammed into him soon after had quickly alerted him to the former-Gryffindor's distress. Albus sitting on that bench, staring emptily at the river and letting the rain soak straight to the bone, had clawed at Scorpius's heart and sucked the breath right out of him.

Scorpius had only seen Froi Tiedoll that one time, a couple days earlier at the Auror Office. The man hadn't flinched when their eyes met, and his energy had had an inquisitive but peaceful hum. Albus had spoken of Tiedoll often during their brunches and Scorpius could tell that he really admired the older Auror. It was hard to not be able to cure Albus's pain.

The concerns Scorpius had had over the last couple of days – worrying about how to advance their relationship without simply throwing himself at Albus and planning to make Albus stay long enough on Tuesday for dinner as well – seemed so childish compared to death.

Yet, the selfish side of Scorpius was immensely relieved that it had been Tiedoll to die and not Albus, and Scorpius hated himself for the comfort that that relief brought him, as Tiedoll's family was no doubt in sorrow.

Scorpius lay still for a long time before Albus stirred. Only when Albus blearily rubbed his eyes did Scorpius shift into a kneeling position, brushing his thumb lightly over Albus's cheek and asking quietly, "Would you like something to drink?"

Albus nodded and then drew Scorpius's hand back to press a kiss to the palm. Scorpius sat by his side a moment longer before easing off the bed to leave through a door on the opposite wall from the bathroom. It led into his sitting room where a tray with two glasses and a pitcher full of cool water already waited, but instead of immediately taking the water back into the bedroom, Scorpius sat in one of the chairs around the small table and closed his eyes, concentrating on the other life energies in Malfoy Manor. He had felt the wards waver that morning and now, feeling out the halls all the way to the front parlor, he recognized the familiar power of Harry Potter.

Scorpius relaxed with a small sigh.

Harry Potter was, of course, not a threat to Albus.

Giving Albus some personal time, Scorpius waited a bit longer before returning to the bedroom. Albus was coming out of the bathroom just as he entered with the tray hovering in pursuit. He eased the tray onto the foot of his bed and poured a glass of water, which Albus gratefully accepted and chugged the whole thing down in a few large gulps.

Scorpius sat down next to Albus as he refilled his glass, saying, "If you feel like it, I can have breakfast brought to my sitting room."

Finishing a gulp, Albus shook his head. "I don't think I could, you know, keep it down. I still feel a bit…"

With a sad smile, Scorpius nodded in understanding. Albus's eyes were puffy and had dark rings. Even his complexion looked paler. His energy still had that anguished hiccup in its vibration, the gravity of which made Scorpius swallow back an empathic sob.

"Oh!" Albus startled, "I should tell everyone where I am… My parents…"

"They know that you are here and safe. I sent them an owl last night after we arrived," Scorpius assured, shifting on the bed to face Albus. "In fact, your father is downstairs in the sunroom."

"Oh…"

Seeing Albus's eyebrows knit in unease, Scorpius quickly added, "You don't have to leave, or even go downstairs, if you don't want to."

"No, it's- I should go," Albus sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "He's probably worried out of his mind. I… Last night… I don't even remember how I got to that river. Everything yesterday just…" Albus swallowed and Scorpius felt a surge of pain, "It's all… I _need_ to talk to him."

When they made it downstairs a little later, Scorpius's father was sitting quietly with Harry Potter. The man once known as "The Chosen One" had the same uneven hitch in his energy that Albus did, the same sunken-eyed cheerless expression, and Scorpius knew that Albus wasn't the only one mourning the death of Froi Tiedoll.

-o-o-o-o-

_May 18, 2027, Tuesday_

"I'm not sure I want to talk about… about what happened just yet…"

Albus's father rubbed his back soothingly, much in the same manner that Scorpius had that night on the balcony.

"I know," Harry said, "and you don't have to, but the mind-healer can help you relax all the same. You just need to give her a chance, okay? Will you try?"

Sighing, Albus nodded and rubbed his eyes. It was department protocol that he speak with a mind-healer but he had hoped they'd give him more time to sort his thoughts before having him try it again. Or some more time with Scorpius, at least, as the few hours he'd spent at Malfoy Manor Monday morning had already helped him greatly. Scorpius's presence alone was enough to ease Albus's distress and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around the blonde and burrow close once more.

Albus could be contentedly lost forever in the comfort that Scorpius provided.

His father patted him then and Albus looked up to see the mind-healer approaching them. She smiled at Albus and he was relieved to find that it wasn't pitying or fake but warm and kind.

"Please follow me," she said quietly, and both Albus and Harry rose to follow her. Albus was thankful that his father was staying beside him through the mind-healing ordeal. They'd always been close and if he wanted anyone helping him (besides Scorpius) it was his dad. The mind-healer led them down a soft-blue hallway and into a basic St. Mungo's exam room. She motioned for Albus to sit on the edge of the exam bed, saying, "We have a few simple tests to run first in order to tailor the potions to your needs."

Albus almost groaned aloud at the idea of being prescribed potions, but instead only frowned and nodded, sitting on the bed as the mind-healer requested. A second later she was easing her wand, tip glowing, to the side of his head – he recognized the slow movement as one intended to not startle him, of which he was reluctantly thankful. He had had enough dreams the night before about curses and their power so that having a wand pointed at him made him distinctly uncomfortable. The mind-healer's wand traced over his temple with a calming warmth and gentle probe. Albus began to feel drowsy.

"Oh!" the mind-healer gasped suddenly and Albus's eyes flew open to see that she was gaping at him.

"What? What is it?" Harry demanded, stepping up next to her.

The wand was again pressed to Albus's temple and he almost drew away from it, not at all liking the startled expression on the mind-healer's face.

"This…" she started, "This is…"

-o-o-

Scorpius was in his safe haven when he felt Albus apparate into Malfoy Manor, having been given access through the wards the night Scorpius brought them both to his balcony. That was where Albus landed now, but would soon discover that Scorpius wasn't in or near his bedroom. He sat up on the broken stone bench, wild vines in his untamed garden tugging at him as though beckoning him back, and quickly brushed the dirt from his robes. He hadn't expected Albus to come for their lunch date, not after what had happened over the weekend, and was thus unprepared for the former Gryffindor's arrival.

Something felt… _off_ about Albus's energy.

Ducking under the overgrown hedges, Scorpius shook the last of the leaves out of his hair as Albus disappeared from the balcony and reappeared in the butterfly garden, clearly searching for him. He hastily changed directions and hurried to the garden before Albus could apparate somewhere else, almost breaking into a jog in his rush. They were too far apart for Scorpius to get a good grasp of Albus's state of mind, but even at the distance Scorpius could feel twinges, proof enough that the man was under some powerful emotions. As he got closer, he recognized the waves of pain and grief, but they were different from earlier somehow and felt smothered by another emotion, one of–

Scorpius rounded the azalea bushes just as Albus turned and their eyes met.

_Fury_.

In a few quick strides, Albus was across the garden and in front of Scorpius, the expression on his face intimidating Scorpius into stumbling backward until his back hit a hedge. The furious waves of energy wrapped around Scorpius like a vice and made his blood run cold as Albus stood over him. Never had he known Albus to have such anger and never had Albus's anger been directed at him.

Their eyes were still locked and Scorpius felt Albus push against his mind with legilimency. He occluded, mostly out of confusion, but even then the force Albus used on top of the tightening grasp of energy made his head swim with dizziness. Scorpius had the ability to fight back, to break free, but this was _Albus_, and something was obviously wrong.

When Scorpius felt he just might crack, Albus finally ended the contact between their minds, settling back into a glare as Scorpius wobbled from the intrusion. He weakly lifted a hand to push Albus back, to gain some breathing room, but Albus snatched him by the wrist, holding him tightly in place.

"Al-Albus!" Scorpius gasped. "What are y-you–"

"You've been obliviating me," Albus growled, voice low and dark.

Scorpius froze.

It had been three years since he had last obliviated Albus. How had the man found–

The mind-healer.

Seeing the understanding dawn on Scorpius's face, Albus's hand on his wrist squeezed painfully, the other hand coming up to grab Scorpius's other arm and press him into the hedge so that the small branches jabbed at his back.

"She only detected it because you did it _so much_ it left an_ imprint!_" Albus shouted and, unbeknownst to him, his rage constricted around Scorpius, making it difficult to breathe. "All this time- all these years! I've trusted you! _You_, Scorpius! Above all others! And now I know you've been _lying_ to me, using magic _against _me! _Why?_"

Scorpius's vision began to get splotchy; Albus's energy was choking him.

"Froi even said that you were dangerous and I was ready to _defend_ you!" Albus continued, unaware of Scorpius's problem. "And now he's _dead_, and I know that you've been _deceiving_ me, and everything is just- I can't- Argghh!"

Albus shoved away from Scorpius with his angry yell and his energy, too, released its hold.

Scorpius stumbled forward, having to grasp at the hedge in order to stay upright, and gasped for air, staring at Albus's back. Albus was still radiating pain and anger, and knowing that he was the cause made Scorpius's heart clench agonizingly.

"Albus, I…"

What comfort would his words or actions be to Albus now?

"I can't do this. I can't deal with this," Albus said, voice rough and still standing with his back to Scorpius. "Not… Not… I can't… I _trusted_ you."

There was a flash of immense regret and then Albus disappeared with a sharp _crack!_

Scorpius stared at the empty space before him for a long moment, at the environmental waves still staggering from Albus's violent energy, and then his knees buckled and he dropped to the ground. Slowly, he lifted a trembling hand to touch his still-aching throat.

He had done this, had betrayed Albus.

Albus needed to know, needed to understand, why Scorpius had lied to him, but would he listen to Scorpius now? He had no reason to, not now when he knew of Scorpius's manipulations. That Albus would have his memories returned at an already painful time had only caused him more distress, and with the memories Albus would remember why he should fear rather than love Scorpius.

Numbly, Scorpius lurched to his feet, legs shaking, and stumbled his way back to his wild garden, his own memories already starting to whisper through his mind.

_"What a frightening child."_

_"Get out of here! I don't serve Death Eaters or their unnatural offspring!"_

_"Something is _wrong_ with him, Draco!"_

_"Only lowlifes like the Malfoys would bring such a monster into this world."_

_"Nasty li'l shit with ya empty eyes. Like Death himself a lookin' at me."_

_"He's not normal, not _right_."_

The wild garden of Scorpius's childhood welcomed him as it always had and he lay down on the cold, broken bench.

_"I _trusted_ you."_

-o-o-o-o-

_May 20, 2027, Thursday_

Albus stared hard at the gates of the Malfoy Estate, mentally willing them to give him answers.

The wards were still open to him, and he had considered simply apparating to Scorpius's balcony, but doing so seemed inappropriate given their last encounter – like a horrible rift between them and it would be rude to force his way across the gap. Albus had spent the previous two days trying to sort himself: Tiedoll's death, the sessions he had yet to complete with the mind-healer, the potions to help him fight the depression, his future as an Auror, and, of course, Scorpius.

Simply… _Scorpius_.

Everything and anything that encompassed their relationship. Friendship. Whatever they had.

The memories the mind-healer had been able to restore were blurry and disconnected, but he'd remembered enough to have been positively livid with his best friend. Even now, having had time to calm down, he felt a rush of anger toward Scorpius, but he swallowed it back. Brooding about it wouldn't get him answers, and he _wanted_ answers.

Taking a deep breath, Albus stepped through the gates, intending to head up the gravel drive but instead he froze again. There were lights on in the manor. If he waltzed up to the front door and knocked, he'd have to talk to whoever answered (and what if it was Draco Malfoy and not simply a house-elf?) and then he'd have to trek through the halls all the way Scorpius's room, with paintings upon paintings of Malfoy ancestors glaring down at him – and that only if the door wasn't slammed in his face for yelling at Scorpius in the gardens like a mad man. Plus, did he ever remember the way to Scorpius's room? Would Mr. Malfoy turn him loose in the manor, hoping he'd get lost and wander into a cursed room?

Opting for rudeness, Albus twisted and a second later landed on Scorpius's balcony, and he sighed as he remembered having landed in the same spot not so long ago, the same questions he had now running through his much angrier mind then as well.

The lights were off in the bedroom but it was still early evening, the sun only just setting, so Albus doubted Scorpius was asleep. Still, he quietly pushed the balcony door open and eased inside. It was odd to think that the first time he'd been in the room was because Scorpius had found him in the rain and the second time because he was furious, even odder that the occurrences were all within the same week.

"Albus?"

Scorpius's voice was scarcely audible in the quiet and completely unexpected. Albus jerked so hard he thumped into the Scorpius's desk, causing a few papers to scatter and random objects to fall to the floor, not to mention a blooming pain in his leg. Looking around, Albus spotted Scorpius sitting on the bed, knees tented, arms folded, as he leaned against the headboard. The last few rays of orange sunlight barely filtered into the room, but Scorpius was so pale he practically glowed against the dark duvet and carved wood. Their eyes met but Scorpius immediately lowered his gaze to the bed with a flinch and Albus felt a sharp stab of guilt at having used legilimency so forcefully against him.

Breathing in deep to calm his sudden frantic nerves, Albus slowly made his way to the bedside. He could tell by Scorpius's tensing that the blonde wanted to bolt and flee, no doubt fearing his wrath, and he again regretted his earlier actions.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, and Scorpius's eyes flickered to him in surprise, "I'm sorry for… for last time. Tiedoll's death was… and then I found out that you…" Albus closed his eyes and shoved back the anger that threatened to return. He sighed heavily and opened his eyes to stare at Scorpius firmly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"No, I…" Scorpius's voice sounded raw and scratchy, "I am the one who should apologize. I never meant to hurt you, either."

"Then _why?_" Albus demanded, taking another step closer. Scorpius looked away again, much to his displeasure, but he strove onward, "When I calmed down enough to think about it, I first thought that you just didn't want to be with me, not like that, and so my obsession had backed you into a corner. But in some of these memories, _you're_ the one who… I just don't understand, Scorpius. Tell me _why_."

Scorpius was silent for a long time, long enough for Albus to ease the rest of the way to the bed and sit at the foot so that they were facing one another. As he waited for an answer, Albus studied the tense form in front of him. Scorpius looked horrible, worse than Albus had ever seen him – hell, Albus had _never_ seen Scorpius looking anything less than perfect, not even that time in fifth year when half the Slytherin House, including Scorpius, was bedridden for a week with kneazle-scratch fever. Now the blonde looked as he should have then: ill and exhausted.

Had Albus's anger truly been that devastating to Scorpius?

The watery memory of Scorpius sending three grown men flying without using a wand passed through Albus's mind. He could remember the feeling of surprise, the utter shock, because he had recognized that that wasn't normal magic, and also the way Scorpius wouldn't meet his eyes, the expression of terrible anguish, as though Scorpius had expected him to be disgusted.

Almost like the time they first met, so long ago, when Scorpius had sighed and turned away, thinking that Albus was afraid of his eyes like everyone else.

"I don't hate you," Albus blurted, and Scorpius's head snapped up so fast he worried that the blonde would slam it into the headboard. "I'm angry with you, and it feels weird because I've not been angry with you before, but I don't _hate_ you. I could _never_ hate you, Scorpius. So just…" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Just tell me if there's anything else I need to know. Any other secrets you're keeping from me?"

"I…" Scorpius hesitated, and Albus saw his hands clench tighter in attempt to stop his body's trembling. "I have been putting the Elixir of Life in your coffee every week since you started coming here."

"The Elixir of…" Albus's mouth dropped open in shock and then he struggled to find words. "You… in my… You've been putting the… the Elixir of Life… in my coffee…?" A thought occurred to him and he couldn't help but smile softly, shaking his head. "You have created the Philosopher's Stone, then."

"Yes," Scorpius whispered with a light shrug. "It is as you once said, I formed the stone years ago and I do not doubt that it is superior to Flamel's own."

"But why?" Albus asked. "Why have you been giving me Elixir but still avoiding me? Erasing my memories? You wanted to extend my life– for what? To keep me by your side for as long as you deemed me useful? Is that it? To fill some need for human contact?"

"_No!_" Scorpius croaked, looking at Albus desperately. "No! I…"

"Then _why?_" Albus demanded, and quickly moved across the bed to kneel in front of Scorpius, stopping the pale hands from covering Scorpius's face.

"Because I… I…" Scorpius sucked in a sharp breath and he turned his head away to keep from looking at Albus, like he was trying to hide his eyes.

Albus knew he had a right to be angry – Scorpius had been wiping his memories for who knew how long, some of which he could never get back – but, holding shivering wrists in his hands, still bruised from where he had roughly gripped them two days prior, and watching Scorpius blink back never-before shed tears, he felt all of his anger ebbing away, being swiftly replaced by the need to protect Scorpius. This was an emotion he was familiar with when it came to the blonde, like a comforting blanket.

Scorpius had been slipping him the Elixir of Life for three years. That combined with the many returned memories of Scorpius spontaneously kissing him gave Albus a pretty good idea of how Scorpius felt about him, but he asked anyway, "Because you love me?"

"…Yes," Scorpius whispered and slumped against Albus. "I love you."

_"I love you_."

How long had he wanted to hear those words?

Albus tugged Scorpius tight to him, letting Scorpius hide against his shoulder, evidently embarrassed by the confession. It made him smile. "Well, you already know, but I also love you and I fully expect you let me remember this night and to let me just love you already. I still want to know why you did what you did, but you don't have to tell me tonight, or even tomorrow, but if we're going to be living together for a really long time, I figure you'll tell me eventually, right? Just stop running from me, Scorpius, okay?"

Scorpius nodded into his shoulder.

"So…" Albus prompted, "If you don't want to talk about that right now, are there any other secrets you do feel like sharing?"

There was a long pause where Scorpius stiffened and then Albus heard the muffled, quick confessions.

"I confunded Professor Weedle once so that he would forget to assign you detention. That really long quidditch rally between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff in the rain back in sixth year? I casted a notice me spell for the snitch on you and the other seeker so the game would finally end. I rearranged the thoughts of and obliviated Ethan Evans after he confessed because I did not want him to like me. I lied to you about the Pepper Up potion before your final exam from Auror training because I knew you could do it without the potion calming you. Last Friday I confunded the entire Magical Law Enforcement Office so that everyone would leave and give me time to talk to you alone, and that was after I obliviated Archie Holt from International Magical Cooperation and he has absolutely no memory of you now. I also–"

"Okay!" Albus interrupted, patting Scorpius awkwardly on the back and wondering how he even knew Archie, blushing at the thought of him discovering how _Albus_ knew Archie, although maybe that was why he deemed Archie an obliviation target… "We'll be together a long time, remember? You don't have to tell me everything at once."

Scorpius nodded again.

_Really_, Albus thought affectionately, _what am I going to do with you?_

Then, he caught Scorpius by the chin and lifted, easing forward for a kiss.

One that he wasn't going to forget.

-o-o-o-o-

_June 19, 2027, Saturday_

Scorpius wasn't in his room, so Albus set out to find his potions labs, having a feeling that he was busy with work at this time of morning.

Four weeks later and Albus had a new partner with a new schedule, his time off now falling on the weekends. It still felt too early to move on from Froi Tiedoll's death, but life goes on, his father had said. The adjustment was strange but it would help, or so the mind-healer told him.

"Mr. Potter, wandering down the wrong hallway _again_, I see."

Albus spun around to find Draco Malfoy standing imperiously in a nearby doorway, sneering ever so slightly, and grinned with an awkwardly shrug. "It's like a maze in here."

Draco regarded him carefully, sizing him up like always, and then slowly stepped closer, waiting until he was looming over Albus before saying, "You have been… _visiting_ more often as of late. As Scorpius's father, I am sure you understand why I must ask of your _intentions_ toward my son."

Albus paled slightly. As if Draco Malfoy wasn't intimidating enough simply being aloof but now he was being the concerned aristocratic parent, and the commanding stare he gave was enough to make Albus almost wet his pants like a school boy. "I, er… Well…"

"Do be quick and enunciate," Draco ordered, eyes narrowing.

_"I have loved you since you told me that you liked my eyes and then insisted that we would be friends no matter our Houses, but I did not think you could ever truly be happy with someone as… _different_ as I."_

Scorpius's confession flashed through Albus's mind and he felt sobered by it.

"I love him," Albus stated, watching the surprise light on Draco's face at his bluntness. He smiled. "I love him, and I intend to spend the rest of my life, however _long_ that may be, telling him why he's perfect just the way he is."

Draco stared at Albus, appalled, before swiftly turning on his heel and stalking back the way he had come, muttering, "Honestly! _Potters._ Saps, the whole lot of them!"

"Just so you're informed," Albus called after Draco, now feeling brave, "I'll be kissing him a lot and maybe I'll even try proposing to him, and I'll probably do both in public venues, if my previous history is anything to go by."

Albus chuckled as he saw the red blush streak across Draco's face as the older man ducked into the nearest doorway. Well, at least now Albus knew from whom Scorpius drew his shyness.

Then, realizing that he was still lost, "Hey! Wait! You didn't tell me how to find Scorpius in this place! Where do I go? Come back!"

-o-o-o-o-

Thank you for reading to the end. =)

Please review! Positive and negative comments are both welcome. Please let me know what you think! =D


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